Insurgency
by LowDesert
Summary: The War with Time has been lost, the Elementals are scattered or destroyed. Sapphire and Steel remain to continue the resistance...but at what cost?
1. Chapter 1

Insurgency

Chapter 1

Antonia Ramirez rechecked the address that the Agency provided for what seemed the umpteenth time. It was her first interview with the new family, and she wanted to be on time. As it was, the bus to this upscale neighborhood was behind schedule, and she was going to be late. If she hurried, she could still make it on time. She knew that being punctual counted a lot with the _anglos_.

She brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her face, hoping she was still looking presentable. The Santa Ana winds were blowing fiercely throughout the Southland this week. Plus it had been over an hour on the transit from her home to this interview, and she didn't want to blow it. Her family needed the money, especially with her sister, Annalia, back home from grad school (and jobless! after all that time and effort!), and her mama the only one bringing in an income with her own cleaning company, which was not doing very well at the moment...Papa had gone several years ago… he had gone back to his hometown in Mexicali to visit family but he had never returned, not even for her high school graduation. Antonia sometimes found herself desperately wishing he would return...some days, after seeing her mama stare grimfaced at the window, at that the traffic, at the people on the street, at nothing... she wished that he would never come back.

The area she found herself in was definitely more upscale than her own, a sign that the people who worked here had money, or worked in jobs that ensured they would always have fat bank accounts. Lush, manicured and well-watered lawns, giant palms,multistory houses. Luxury cars or SUVs in every driveway. She allowed herself a small smirk: no 99% here! It was something her sister would think.

A minute later, she rethought that, spotting a homeless guy slumped against the last turn before her destination. He looked way out of place here, and actually she wasn't quite sure he wasn't dead. The guy's head was slumped down against his chest, straggly dark hair hanging down from his forehead, so she couldn't see his face. He was dressed in faded digital camouflage pants, the kind that the Army (or was it the Marines?) wore, torn away at the knees, revealing pale, scabby, hairy legs, and a ripped and fraying hoodie. Maybe somebody had stolen his shoes while he was passed out. Various trash was strewn around him, and a large cardboard sign propped up against the wall that read,

Blessed are the peacemakers!

2012! This is the year!

Saint Justice comes and

All sins made right

Please donate if you can!

God Bless You!

And can you help us...?

The writing deteriorated into further, unreadable scrawl at that point and Antonia was in no mood or time to try to find out. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of remorse: maybe the guy was a homeless vet, or just a drug addict. Her cousin César had come back from Afghanistan with traumatic brain injury, although she'd heard he was doing well, in therapy. But she couldn't stop to find out. The man did not move or look up as the hopeful young housekeeper candidate hurried past.

* * *

><p>Antionia found the house without any difficulty, a large three-story set somewhat apart from the other "McMansions" (as he older sister would have called them), and offered some privacy. A late model BMW sat in the large driveway (she would also snark on that, Antonia thought). She rang the bell, which was answered shortly.<p>

"Mr. Huston?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Antonia Ramirez, the Agency sent me to interview with you about the housekeeper position."

She gave her best prospective employee smile, and hoped her nervousness didn't show. The man who'd answered the door was dressed impeccably despite the warm weather, in a formal gray suit. He had gray eyes and a thick thatch of blond hair, yet despite his boyish good looks the man had rather a stern, almost grim look to his face, and he seemed quite stiff and uptight. He stared at her intensely for a moment. _Great, _she thought, _what's the odds that he'll try to report me as an illegal any second now_? Most of Antonia's family had their papers in good order.

"Yes. Of course. Come in."

He stepped aside to allow Antonia to enter the large marbled foyer. As she expected the house was huge: a chandelier hung from the ceiling, and beyond she could see the vast expanse of living room, and a massive spiraled staircase leading to the floors above.

"Mrs…Huston is not present at the moment, so I will explain your duties to you."

The pale _anglo_ seemed to not notice Antonia's confusion as he walked her though the many rooms of the house, explaining thoroughly, what each required in the way of upkeep. He barely looked at her, only to make sure she was attending to his instructions. Antonia noticed that the house seemed full of antiques, and she had a hunch that they were more for show than anything else. There was a huge flatscreen TV on one wall, but she didn't see any thing else that would hint that this house had...a warmth, a _lived-in_ feeling. She wondered if they had just moved in, or if these things were theirs, or they were just watching them for someone else, the real owner. This wouldn't have been the first place she'd worked at that had something less-than-legal going on under the roof. She also had the feeling that this Mr. Huston would not appreciate many questions being asked of him other than the most obsequious.

"Miss Ramirez?"

"Yes sir?" she also felt that he would also not take kindly any distracted housekeepers.

"There is also one other instruction: under no circumstances will you go upstairs. Is that understood?"

"I...ah, yes, sir." More weirdness. Of course she would not help wondering what was "upstairs." Probably where the "stash" of whatever it was, was! "Um...does this mean I have the job?"

He stared at her for a moment, momentarily nonplussed. "Yes...yes of course. You will begin this week, as agreed per the Agency..."

Quickly approaching footsteps, crisply sounding out on the foyer, made them both turn. Antonia saw a stunningly beautiful, slender woman, with the bluest eyes Antonia had ever seen. She was dressed in clothes that matched those eyes, a soft light blue blouse, and matching skirt, that revealed shapely legs. She extended a hand and Antonia took it.

"Miss Ramirez, we've been expecting you! I'm Mrs. Huston, but please, call me Sapphire. Have you seen the house? Yes, good, I'm glad you like it. We are still in the process of moving in, but hopefully it will not be much longer, you know how these things are."

Antonia really didn't but she nodded, a bit relieved that this person at least was less intimidating that her husband. She seemed oddly to resemble him, blonde (and white) and somehow quite formidable. She couldn't help noticing that Mr. Huston seemed to have become even more rigid and stone-faced as his wife talked. She wondered if they were going through troubles. Most of these rich couples did, she imagined.

"Yes, yes...I'm very happy to be working here. Thank you for giving me this job," Antonia felt herself rambling, forced herself to stop. Fortunately, Mrs. Huston seemed not to notice, exclaiming that they were relieved to have a reliable young lady in their employ.

Antonia hurried to catch the return bus home, not noticing her new employers watched her until she vanished from sight.

* * *

><p>"She is the trigger?"<p>

"Perhaps...or perhaps she is something...perhaps only a sensitive. Nineteen years old, in good health, descended from Aztec, Spanish, and Zapotec heritages."

"It's unwise to bring a human into this, even a sensitive as she does appear to be," Sapphire turned away from the window. "It is too dangerous for her to be here."

"I'm not surprised you would express concern for a human rather than to consider what is at stake here," Steel rumbled ominously, a smoldering volcano. "A war that is still being fought…"

"A 'war' that we have lost…the Elementals are scattered and fled, the Authority is either destroyed or has fled, where we don't know, not that we could rely on…."

"We have NOT lost. We are conducting an insurgency operation, from this location..."

"Well I know it," Sapphire turned and faced Steel squarely "And I know your methods."

Steel flinched at the cold inflection his partner placed on the last word. Certain memories threatened to overwhelm him, and his resolve, his determination needed to do whatever it took to reverse the course of Time. This determination that had nearly destroyed any semblance of relationship he had with his longtime partner. The look in Sapphire's eyes that told him that relationship could still easily crumble beyond repair.

Perhaps it already was.

For a long second the Elementals stood there facing each other, unable or unwilling to speak. Then, a sound, an unusual sound, emanated from the upstairs where Antonia had not gone. It was a thin, high noise, clearly identifiable as from a living being, but of what sort, would have been unclear, even to a person like Antonia, who came from a diverse family of young and old extended members. If she had heard it, perhaps would have raised as shiver in her.

Sapphire, who had been staring at Steel deliberately, without expression, allowed a slight smile, although it did not extend to her eyes.

"Our child calls, " she said crisply, "Come, let us attend him"

She turned her back and returned up the stairs. After a quiet moment, Steel followed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Antonia decided to stop in at the Agency before she went home. She was more than happy to have landed the job, but on the way home she couldn't help but feel there was something else going on in there. OK, maybe they were just some uptight white couple (though Mrs. Huston seemed quite friendly), but Antonia always had some kind of sense of something funky going on. Most of the time she'd been on the button, remembering one job she'd had where the family had tried to start their own swingers club. That couple were in their 80s.

The Agency's offices were a big industrial park, nothing else around except big warehouses and office buildings and vast parking lots. She was glad she didn't have to be around here at night, although it was not really the "bad" part of town. She couldn't actually come here often, since the bus service was not regular. The whole place had quite a deserted, abandoned feel to it, and there never seemed to be a lot of people about. Perhaps they were all roosting like bats inside those concrete boxes, living there instead of having real homes to go to.

Antonia shook her head: she was having weird thoughts now. Just the combination of the strangeness of her job "interview" and the way the sunlight here made everything seem so hazy here.

Mr. Zamorra was the Day Manager at the Agency. He was a big, muscular man who bore a striking resemblance to the actor Danny Trejo. As intimidating as he looked, Antonia knew him for a friendly guy, even though she knew he kept a Glock in the desk drawer (purely for self-defensive purposes, he'd said), and had a large tattoo of Santa Muerte on his chest (because "you never know" he'd said), which he usually kept covered up in case a potential client wandered in (and the shrine in the back storage room). Usually she saw him sitting in the office, banging away on the computer, doing the spreadsheets for the day.

"Heyyyy girl!" he said as Antonia walked in, "When are you going to get your sister in here also? She still looking for a job?"

"Umm, yeah…maybe. She hasn't decided what she wants to do yet." Antonia plopped down on the couch.

"Can't be too many job openings for a PhD in…what was it, Dumbass Studies?" Zamorra laughed to himself.

"Contemporary Chicana Studies…I think," Antonia muttered. Although she privately agreed that her sister's choice of study was a waste of time, she didn't want to talk about it. Mama and Annalia had had bitter, harsh arguments over it for years. "I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about the new assignment."

"Everything go ok?"

"Yeah, it was fine, I got the job…"

"Hey, great then! There isn't a problem is there? Too hard for you to get there? We can give you maybe a little bit more bus subsidy…"

"No…it's not that, it's just….the couple that lives there."

"Hold on, let me look them up…." Zamorra's large fingers clattered on the keyboard. He could type very fast. "Here. Huston, Miles and Virginia. That's them, huh? What's the matter, they rude to you? You know hot it is with these people…"

"No, no, the lady was nice, but the man, he was kind of stiff. No…it's just.-" Antonia suddenly felt a little foolish. What could she actually say? That something she couldn't explain about the place creeped her out? It was just a house. There were a lot stranger people out there than the Hustons, but still there had been something…she tried to explain it.

"Maybe the house is haunted," mused Zamorra. "Could be haunted. Paranormal activity!" he laughed uproriously. "Maybe the problem is just crazy white people! Gringo activity! Ha ha ha! Maybe you better take a video camera with you and film what happens! You could make a fortune in the movies! Hahaha!"

"Be serious! I think those two are weird!"

"Well, it's not like they have to be normal to pay us! Just what about them is 'weird'?"

Antonia leaned back in her chair; now she really felt silly. "I don't know…just…the entire time I was there – I barely got a word in – it was like they didn't speak to each other, not once…they barely looked at each other. It was almost like…well, I don't know. Just kind of strange vibe in the place."

"Those rich white people all have problems, believe me, who knows what they got goin' on…as long as they're not getting you in trouble and stay out of your hair. Remember Karla? Them crazy people nearly got her busted for their drugs! You just make sure they don't get you involved in any crazy scheme."

Antonia sighed. "You can't tell me anything…else about them?"

Zamorra shrugged, and began clicking away on the mouse. "Don't know what else I can tell you, that would mean anything. Miles and Virginia Huston, he's some banker type, the lady, no job listed for her, maybe she just stays and home and bangs the poolboy, hahaha! Well, other than that…as long as they can pay the bill."

Antonia stood up, not really feeling any better, but this was a job and she didn't want to lose it. "All right…I'll remind my sister there's still maybe a part-time for her?"

"Yeah…we could start her out on some trial basis…I know she's got a PHD and all but everyone has to start somewhere…"

Antonia picked up her purse, then hesitated. "There's…one more thing. The man, he showed me around, but he never took me upstairs. Just mentioned what I had to do in the first floor, but that's a big house…is that ok?"

Zamorra, for the first time, stopped what he was doing on the Excel and looked at her fully. "Hey, if that's all he wants you to do, I wouldn't complain. That kind of job is for a crew, and they specifically wanted only one person to come in and work, but they're payin' for a full crew. Maybe there's something that they got going upstairs…" his brow creased. "you don't go up there unless they tell you, and if you see anything…weird, you come straight back here, or call me, you got that?"

"I got it."

"Don't worry about it. It's just another gig." Fistbump. "I'll see you next week, ok?"

"OK. I gotta go catch the bus. _Adios!_"

Zamorra waved her out the door. He watched her thoughtfully as she ran past the corner to catch the last bust of the day, in time. A minute later, he turned back to his now frozen monitor, but did not touch his keyboard.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Night in the Southland_

It was unseasonably warm this time of year, even for this region of Southern California. Rain was predicted, but only a moderate wind blew down from the mountains. The newscasters cautioned viewers on the fire hazard, as if a chirpy TV warning could prevent the random fires that occurred every year. Chaos was a natural feature of this land and its people.

Antonia got home after dark. Mama was also home by then, and her older sister, watching one of the latter's beloved telenovelas. Several months ago, Annalia had been staying at the Occupy LA camp, until the smells compelled her to leave. She couldn't stand the smell of the marijuana weed (and the other campers), for all her avowed activism. Antonia just thought it was her frustration rather than anything she'd actually took seriously, that she couldn't get a job after so many years of graduate study, but she didn't dare bring it up - it had been the subject of too many fights. Mama and her older sister were alike, in that way, stubborn and insistent on their own points of view.

"I saved dinner for you," Mama called from the living room. "I put it in the oven."

"Thanks, Mama."

"How did your new job go?"

"I start next week actually. The interview was today. I just work a couple days a week."

She heard Annalia say something, which was quickly shushed by Mama. Undoubtedly some crack about slaving away for whitey. In a twinge of pique, Antonia shouted, "_Senor_ Zamorra said he had a part-time job for you too! Maybe we could work together!" Actually this was the last thing Antonia wanted to happen, not the job, but working with her bossy older sister.

As she expected, Mama couldn't help but take the opportunity to start in about Annalia taking whatever work she could find, while her sister just as angrily rejecting any work for the corporations, or "The Man" or whomever it was she complained on, even though the agency was hardly a "corporation." Antonia knew what her sister thought of her for taking on cleaning work, the job of the stereotype poor immigrant Latina. She didn't give a damn. She brought in money, which was a hell of a lot more than her sister was doing now.

Sighing, Antonia fetched her dinner from the oven, ignoring the sounds of the growing argument between her mom and sister. She wanted to just chill, eat something, get on Facebook later… yet something was still nagging at her mind…it was still the new employers. Despite her talk with Mr_._ Zamorra, she still felt that there was something strange about them. It was still bothering her….then she had a momentary recall: Mrs. Huston had said to call her Sapphire, but Mr. Zamorra had said that her name was Virginia. Antonia hadn't thought she looked like a "Virginia", somehow…that moment when they had shook hands, she had felt for a moment like the lady could tell all about her, as if she was reading her mind. It was something Antonia had never felt before, and that was unnerving to say the least…but that didn't mean anything, really. She wasn't there to do anything but clean, and as long as she got paid it was not like she had to worry about who they were and what they did, or if they were who they said they were..all that counted was bringing home a paycheck. Antonia felt more comfortable, listening to the argument in the family room drown out the TV. The incipient family drama would at least drive her concerns about the weird job from her mind…at least for awhile.

* * *

><p>Miles away (in this society, it might have been another planet), in a very different type of house and neighborhood, in a lavishly appointed bedroom double than size of Antonia's living room, Steel lay in bed. He didn't sleep though – he rarely did, and when he did, he equally rarely admitted to it. But it was important to act the part of a "normal" human - he had intuited that the young girl earlier this day was not quite comfortable talking to him. It would be important to gain her trust...for the beginning.<p>

He was quite self-aware of his habits though, and in the darkened bedroom, the only light a bit of the moon's glow through the windows, he stared at the ceiling as though he could see in its crevices the potential tactics and maneuvers to be attempted by the Enemy…as yet still unidentified. He was sure it was not just the Transient Beings who were stalking him and Sapphire, nor the Transuranics, although they had proved themselves exceptionally unreliable, and also untrustworthy.

(Sapphire…)

He allowed his mind to drift back to when their current battle had begun, although this was never clearly defined. Perhaps it had even stretched back to when Silver had rescued them from the gas station, that _prison_ out of time. They had no idea how long they had been trapped there; Silver had assured them it was "not long," but as far as Steel was concerned, the man was less-than-reliable in that department. The entire episode had been an inexcusable loss to the Enemy as far as Steel was concerned, a tactical victory in getting them out of the way...how much had Time gained in their absence? After their debriefing, he and Sapphire had had several more assignments, completed (more or less) successfully: a time-slip in a trendy nightclub in London; a mind parasite gorging itself in a thrift shop in a desolate Midwestern American suburb; dark Chinese characters which came alive – and became hungry - from an old calligrapher's brush-and-paper in Hong Kong...all victories. Then, a violent struggle with several Transient Beings in an isolated Siberian village, which had ended only with the assistance of other Elementals and a horrible ending for the few humans that had gotten in the way.

During that last assignment, Jet and Gold had joined them. Gold was a tall, slender, black-haired man – a human would have described him as effeminate with a touch of sinister. There was something about him that made Steel slightly suspicious of him as well, although at least he was not as abrasive as Silver. There was a…unpleasant air about him, as if he enjoyed the defeat of Time a bit too much, but perhaps his loyalties were suspect as well. However, he had performed well-enough, and he did not flirt with Sapphire as Silver was prone to, which raised Gold in Steel's estimation.

Jet he had known before, a plump, dark-skinned woman with a warm smile, who did not suffer fools gladly despite her vivacity. Jet and Steel trusted each other, in a way few Elementals did. Yet during this assignment, Jet had seemed uncomfortable and prickly, almost failing in a crucial moment, unlike her, and Steel had taken her to task. She had responded in a way that surprised and discomfited him.

"Something unusual is going on," Jet had said afterwards, when the village was still burning...and when Gold was not within hearing. "Events are going very strangely – I can't explain it."

"Explain concisely," Steel demanded. "What do you mean? Another Transient attack?"

"This…." Jet waved her arm at the small town, once a budding community consisting of indigenous villagers who had made artisan native crafts and lived a simple agraian lifestyle to sustain themselves in the postmodern world. Now not a single thing there remained alive. Black smoke billowed into the air, but the village was so remote it would be some time...perhaps months...before the local authorities would arrive, and wonder where everyone had gone, what had happened. There would not be a single trace, or a clue, to give even the most thorough forensic scientist an idea of what had happened here. "This is not like them. Someone…something else is behind this."

Steel had not believed her. He was tired, and irritable after the destruction and the ferocity of the Transient attack, which had stunned even him. Sapphire had gone somewhere to calm herself also. "This is nothing different! The Transients came, we beat them back. Unfortunately there were…human casualties. That's war!"

Jet looked at him piercingly from underneath her dreads, "Is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think, Steel! What point was there in an attack here, of all places? This is the middle of nowhere…not even the bureaucrats in Moscow would bother themselves with this place. Who would come here to be infected?"

Steel glared at her. "Then what _is_ going on?" he demanded.

For a moment Jet looked uncertain, confused, most unlike her. "I don't know…perhaps a dry run…for something bigger…"

Steel had brushed her off irritably, something her perhaps would not have done before, but ever since the gas-station he had become slightly more irritable with probabilities.

And as it turned out, she was right. All hell had broken loose shortly after…and then…

* * *

><p>A movement in the bed at his side and a hand pressed gently on his bare chest, bringing him out of his memories, and he stirred, disturbed by her touch.<p>

_What is the matter?_ Sapphire's thought sounded clear in his mind, like cooling water.

_We should not stay too long in this place_, he replied mentally. _I feel we are compromised here._

_We must wait for Silver, _came the response. _He's the only one who knows where the Sanctuary is._

Irritation shot through Steel, and he wished Sapphire would not interpret it as jealousy. _Silver cannot help us here._ His eyes drifted to the drop-leaf table on his side of the bed. On top of the table rested a baby monitor, a simple device found in a thousand homes in this city. For now, it was silent. He hoped it would stay that way. He forced his mind back to her.

_There IS no Sanctuary! _Steel's thought shot back. _It's only another trap. We won't…_

_You owe it to Silver…and to me…to wait._

Steel stared rigidly at the empty ceiling, carefully keeping his mind blank. He wished that Sapphire would not remind him of that terrible decision he'd made…terrible not because he regretted what he had done, it was his decision…but because he had to make it, because it was necessary to keep them in the battle…

Sapphire's hand glided up to Steel's cheek, gently turned his face to hers. Even in the dark, her blue eyes seemed to glow in the ambient light.

"You should sleep," she spoke those words out loud, "get some rest."

Steel did not reply for a long moment, simply stared into here eyes. Finally, he turned his gaze back to the walls with their garish 1920s-era Art Deco prints, which the humans valued at ridiculous prices. He said nothing, but took her in his arms, kept her there.

Sapphire's eyes danced across Steel's face curiously, as if he were one of the valuable artworks. "Do you want me?"

"No."

A slight smile touched Sapphire's lips, but she did not say anything more. It was enough to know that she knew that he was lying. She laid her head down against his shoulder and allowed herself to relax fully into her partner's body. Steel however, could not allow himself the same comfort. He remained awake, alert, staring thoughtlessly into the darkness.

_To be continued..._

**This is my first S&S fanfiction, so would like to hear your advice (be nice)! I'm basing this more on the TV show, not the CD serials. Bit more action to follow in further chapters, as well as more revelation on who the "Enemy" is!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Antonia was making good time on her way to work. The bus was on time for a change, and the weather proved yet another glorious California day, no clouds, just sunshine and warmth. She couldn't imagine how people lived in places like the Midwest…or Seattle…where the weather was either freezing or rainy.

The same homeless dude was there where she'd passed him during the first interview...no, this time he had moved a little further up the street, which surprised her: he wasn't near any busy intersection where he could make money panhandling. But there were a couple of dollars in his desert boonie hat helpfully propped in front of him (maybe all those rich people felt guilty about sending him to Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever it was…now that was an Annalia thinking, Antonia thought).

The vet was sitting with this back propped up against a brick, and he was dressed in the same ratty clothes: a faded desert-camouflage trousers torn at the knees, revealing sunburned hairy legs and bare feet stretched out in front of him, threadbare black sweatshirt jacket with USMC on the front, which was stained and torn, the zipper's teeth hanging detached. A pair of tan boots, spare change, and some newspapers were scattered near him. She thought she could see part of a nametape on his chest that started with Ma- but it was hidden by its huge folds. The hood of the sweatshirt hid his face, which was tucked down on his chest. He seemed to be asleep.

He still had the same cardboard sign propped up next to him…no, the words were different this time. Antonia gave it a passing glance, then stopped and stared at it. It wasn't the usual, "Vet can you please help" or "I'm honest I need money for beer" begging sign. On the cardboard was scrawled:

BEWARE

WE ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE THE FOURTH WORLD

STRAP YOURSELVES TO YOUR SEATS!

TIME IS BREAKING THROUGH!

THE FIFTH WORLD IS COMING COMING! ANY MINUTE NOW!

HEY ALL YOU HOES WATCH OUT…AND IF YOU SEE….(this part was smeared and unreadable)

REWARD OFFERED! YAY!

"What's up?"

Startled, Antonia hadn't noticed that the vet was watching her. She could see his face now. He looked like he was in his twenties, with a few days black growth on his face, and he was smiling. He was very handsome, and didn't look really crazy or out of it like most of the pathetic drunk, homeless guys where her family lived.

"Um…just going to work, "she stammed.

"Oh that's great! I'm out of a job…well, obviously since I'm hanging out here. It's not too bad."

"Were you…are you a vet?"

"Yeah. I'm a 'downsized' now so I'm not doing anything now. I miss it sometimes, not all the time. No one bothers me though, not even the cops. I don't cause any trouble to the people, here. I just hang out during the day. I go to the shelter at night, or I stay with some friends."

"Well…that's good."

"Actually I got some work lined up soon, real soon, just waiting for it to start. Then…maybe I'll not be hanging out here anymore."

He had a really nice voice too, very melodic, although Antonia didn't know why. She suddenly felt a little flustered, and a bit confused…she rarely gave any money to homeless dudes, she knew that most of them just spent it on booze or drugs, but he didn't look like an addict or a junkie, and she usually never talked to them either, if they tried to talk to her, as usually they just made sad attempts to ask for sex, but strangely, she found that she didn't mind talking to him…she even felt like she _wanted_ to talk to him. He didn't seem to smell at all either.

"So…what does your sign mean?" As soon as she asked, Antonia winced, wishing she could take the questions back. This would probably set him off on some crazy rant about the Illuminati or maybe he was a racist and he would go off on a tirade about Mexicans and Jews.

"Oh…oh this…I like to think I'm a bit visionary…it happens when I was in the desert. I get visions and I just write down what I see…like a premonition? Mostly, people just like to read crazy shit huh? The 5th World…well, that's coming, you'll see. Everything is always changing. We have to fix things for better."

Antonia nodded. "You fought in the war?"

The man smiled, but his eyes seemed a bit different. "Yes. It wasn't like everyone says it was….it was…well, it sounds strange to say but I really liked it."

He laughed, and though his voice sounded attractive, Antonia felt a chill. He seemed to notice, and changed the subject.

"You going to work in one of them big houses, down the block?"

"Today's my first day, so I don't want to be late…"

"Oh, don't let me hold you up! Thanks for talking with me…and hey, thanks, but I don't need any money, but if you can get me a doggie bag from their kitchen…I bet they have some good chow there! _Me gusta_!"

"I'll see what they got, I got a feeling they only eat out."

"Only 5 star for them I bet! Haha! Bye!"

Antonia waved, and hurried to her job. She wondered if he would be there the next day; she resolved she would try to help out this guy who had fought for his country.

She glanced back. He was sitting again with his head bowed down on his chest, hidden by his hood, as if he had fallen asleep again.


	5. Chapter 5

**(Warning: some strong language in this chapter)**

Chapter 5

_An Unearthly Child_

Antonia liked it best when she could work alone, absent the eyes of the clients, who (it seemed) liked best to hover over her work and nitpick about whether she'd properly dusted the shelves and gotten every last inch of floor vacuumed, and she could always do without the oh-would-you-mind-not-touching-the-antiques-they're-_quite_-valuable comment They also seemed to assume that she would steal anything not nailed down if she wasn't under constant surveillance. So she enjoyed this gig all the more, since Mr. & Mrs. Huston seemed always to be out, and apparently would be so every time she came to work. There would only be a short note, explaining exactly what needed to be done. She would be able to finish her job at this location in only a couple of hours.

It wasn't such a difficult job after all. The house hardly looked lived in at all, it didn't seem like they even entertained; everything seemed to be in place and hardly disturbed, room after room after room. The bathrooms, the dining room, the massive living room, the foyer, the closets, the kitchen, where there was not a spot of grease or sign that it had seen any cooking. All she really had to do was vacuum and dust and mop. There was nothing to complain about…she didn't even have to do the upper floors, since her instructions were explicit about not going upstairs into the bedrooms and whatever else was up there. That was totally fine with her. This would be one of her less stressed-out paychecks.

She had just finished vacuuming when she heard the sound.

Surprised, she glanced in the direction of the stairs. It sounded like something heavy had tipped over. There wasn't anyone else in the house except her. Mr. & Mrs. Huston had no servants or personal assistants here.

Another thud seemed to make the whole house shudder…what was going on, an earthquake now? If it was, car alarms would be sounding down the streets, but it was quiet.

Antonia suddenly became aware of how quiet it was in the house…she was supposed to be by herself here…but if someone was breaking in…or was there someone else?

"Hello?" she called out, before realizing how stupid that was If it was a burglar, or someone else up there (someone else? who else?) they would hardly just call down that everything was ok, and she'd given herself away. Before she could think what else to do another sound echoed down from upstairs, a noise that raised the thin hairs on her arms. What the hell was _that_ noise? She'd never heard anything quite so…so strange. Was it a cat…or…a baby? It sounded like a baby, but a little...off. But there could hardly be a baby upstairs, who would leave their baby, alone, unattended? She didn't recall the Hustons saying they had any kids at all.

It seemed that the last thing she wanted to do was go upstairs and investigate, but…if that noise was a baby, a child, she couldn't help but feel she had to go upstairs and make certain. Maybe it fell or was hurt, or maybe somebody had tried to break in, or…

_Obviously this is where the character of minority persuasion gets killed early in the movie_.

Another one of her sister's unhelpful thoughts echoing in her mind, well the hell with it, she couldn't just ignore it and leave (although she really, really wanted to).

Very slowly, Antonia approached the staircase, feeling quite definitely that she had to consciously place one foot in front of the other. About the midway point, the unearthly cry came again, and she froze, on the verge of just flying out the front door. Somehow, the more normal fear of losing her job over some unnamed fear was what kept her from doing just that.

She got moving again, her heart hammering in her chest.

She had never been up here before, and she'd assumed this was where Mr. & Mrs. Huston actually spent their time (doing who knows what, she didn't want to visualize _that_), since the downstairs seemed hardly used. A long hallway, bare except for a few statuettes on display, led to a series of rooms. One at the far end had an open door and somehow she felt that that was where the sound had originated. Why did it have to be a long hallway? This was just nuts…if that….noise came again, there was no way she was going down it. Her hand drifted down to the pouch of her work apron, where she kept a small can of mace (for self-defense purposes only, of couse). Fuck it, just do it.

Forcing herself to move quickly, she strode down the hallway, and just walked into the room.

Damn, it was a nursery! A crib, vintage Pooh pictures on the wall, shades of whites and blues and yellows. A baby, yes a little boy, was sitting there in large crib, maybe a year old! Antonia sighed with relief, but it was immediately replaced by worry and anger. So those crazy white people had indeed left their baby alone, in a house, with no nanny, no babysitter, no anybody! Not like that they couldn't afford one. And she was pretty sure it was theirs…the kid was very pale, with the thinnest blonde hair, cute. Almost an albino, maybe. Antonia let herself slump against the doorframe, grimacing in exasperation. Now, what was she supposed to do? She should report their asses to Child Protective Services, but that might mean she would be out of a job…not like these people would ever do time, but maybe they would get their kid taken away temporarily, then they would be pissed off with her and the Agency…well she better make sure Mr. Zamorra would have her back. She fumbled in her apron for her cellphone. It would be smart to call him, get his opinion. She pressed the preset number, then decided to check on the child, make sure he was okay first.

"_El_ _Nino_, little boy, poor guy, did you get ditched…" Antonia had lapsed into the baby talk she would use when she used to babysit, but as she approached the crib she stopped, confused.

_What's going on?_

The child was staring at her, not like a baby would stare, in curiosity, but this child was…actually _focusing_ on her. Babies couldn't focus like that, not intensely like that. Something very strange was going on…Antonia felt a slight buzzing in her head, as if she was getting dizzy, and it was getting stronger. She tried to step back out of the nursery, instinctively, but she felt she couldn't look away from the child, who still kept her in his gaze…for a moment Antonia was completely frozen, and hen he disappeared.

Gasping, Antonia nearly fell backwards. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and she spun, nearly falling back against the crib.

It was the child, but he was standing…no, it was another child, because this one was at least a year or two older…no, the same! He looked the same…a…brother? A twin? No, the same kid (how could that be)? He was still staring at her with that intense gaze, and he had the brightest blue eyes…impossibly blue, it seemed they actually glowed.

The buzzing in her head was getting louder, and then the buzzing took on the shape of words, _who are you?_

Terrified, Antonia jumped back, and whirled around, and nearly collided with the man standing directly behind her.

She shouted, shocked, now her heart felt like it would pop right out of her chest. But the man she'd nearly run into seemed to be surprised himself, and he caught her carefully by the arms.

"Oh! I'm very sorry to have scared you, young lady, please forgive me, but I really hadn't expected anyone else to be in."

"Nuh-no, no, I'm fine…I'm sorry who are you?" Antonia stammered. Everything felt like it had been tossed into the air, and had fallen back to earth, show over. She stared at the man. He was a taller, older man, dressed in a suit also that seemed too warm and slight outdated for Southern California. He also had something of an old-fashioned haircut that reminded her of Javier Barden (one of her favorite male actors) from that movie. He had an accent that was maybe English?...and he looked completely unthreatening enough that she felt her heart-rate slow down. The buzzing had stopped.

"My name is Silver," he said it in such a way that an image appeared in her mind of an quintessential English gentleman doffing his hat. "And you are?"

"My name's Antonia Ramirez, I work here…I come here to clean every week…and I…" completely unsettled, she turned to look back at the nursery room (if that was what it was), but the child was back in its crib, just sitting there, and playing with the cradle, just like an ordinary baby, when she first had saw it…what the _fuck_…was she hallucinating? "I…I thought there was no one else here…."

"Well…I've dropped in unexpectedly, you might say, but I'm not completely an intruder as it happens…but it looks to me like you've had a terrible shock Ms. Ramirez, you'd better sit down…let's go downstairs."

Very gently, almost soothingly, he took her elbow, and Antonia felt herself being led back downstairs, unresistingly. The older man didn't seem interested in the nursery or the child, nor did he even look back at the room and its occupant as he carefully escorted her away.

Once downstairs, in the kitchen, Antonia had only the most dimmest images of being sat down, and the strange English(?) gentleman pouring something to drink, which she did drink, she couldn't even recall what it was, but it had the effect of making her feel calmer. Already, what she'd seen feel like…maybe she'd just gotten dizzy from the carpet cleaner.

She realized the man had been talking almost the whole time, something about visiting from distant parts, and "checking up on old friends." She shook her head, trying to clear it.

"Wait…wait, what's going on?"

"My dear, that would be quite a story! I'm not sure if I should be the one to explain it…not quite my place, you see."

Antonia certainly didn't. "No, that's not what I meant…what was that upstairs?"

"Upstairs? Oh…you must mean the child…well, just a young thing, I'm sure. But it is interesting that you noticed the time displacement…. usually most humans are immune to the effects of such an event, but in your case…also this is a most unusual child, wouldn't you say? But the circumstances of its conception is not something I would care to discuss, but suffice it to say that I was _most_ unhappy about it, I can tell you! Still, I can understand the reasoning if not the actual application of theory…we _do_ have a sense of morality about such things I assure you."

Antonia was now 99% sure she had ingested something along with the drink.

"Hold on…what the _fuck_ are you talking about? Just….I'm sorry, just tell me I'm not going crazy."

Silver sighed, "My dear, I assure you, you are not crazy. However, the situation that you currently find yourself in, is not the most rational I'm afraid."

Antonia stared at him. "But…_Senor_ & Mrs. Huston…where are they?"

"Is that what they're calling themselves?" Silver laughed. "No doubt Sapphire's idea! But to answer your question, they should be back shortly…if you could do me a great favor, please don't mention that I was here…just yet. Mr…Huston and I aren't quite the best of associates at the moment, and he'd be quite upset perhaps if I'd just turned up now. It would create all kinds of "drama" I'm sure you'd prefer not to be in the middle of."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry young lady, I'm not intending any harm," Silver replied soothingly. "Not towards them nor yourself. I'm afraid that you may be caught up in this more than you intended, and I'm very sorry, but for now, I think it would be best if you'd left for today."

Antonia didn't need any more urging. More quickly than she wanted to, she got up, gathered her things, and left. She'd completely forgotten about calling in to Mr. Zamorra. Later, she'd remember she did press the dial.

Silver watched her leave, and shook his head. Things were going more quickly than he'd planned for, and he was really just a technician, but his new role was taking him into a steep learning curve he'd just have to get used to.

Many miles away, past innumerable snarls of traffic of commuters trying to get home and watch their stupefying TV shows, Mr. Zamorra snapped close his cellphone (a flip model) and and stood up slowly in his empty office. He opened the desk drawer, took out the Glock, stuck it into his waistband. He glanced out the window of his Agency office.

"Soon," he murmured. "Very soon."

**I couldn't help but use this particular title for this chapter I'm sure some of you will get the reference!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is a short flashback episode, getting back to S&S and some of the other Elementals!**

Chapter 6

A resounding _thump_, the sound muted, from somewhere outside, perhaps a distant construction noise from the direction of the freeway. Steel paused, the unexpected noise unwillingly sending him falling into the grasp of a memory…how long ago, he was not quite sure anymore.

The Bunker was what he remembered, on some unnamed world, where he and a party of the other Elementals had gathered, waiting for word of the advance party. They were overdue for a briefing…it had been delayed without any word. None of them were sure of what to make of it, but Steel was the one who had to ensure that the ultimate plan - the battle - was successfully carried out per standing orders.

Jade was the first to conjecture that their position may have been overrun. She was the one with the most experience in this matter, having personally witnessed the initial offensive of the Transients a few months ago. First one crack in Time had appeared, then another, and another, more than any of them had ever experienced before, and much more than their numbers could have handled. The first Elementals to confront the Transient Beings and the other, lesser creatures that had escaped through the break, had initially succeeded in driving them back. Then an overwhelming tide of attacks...now their numbers had dwindled from 115 to only 40. Most were isolated, and scattered, unable to make communication, or perhaps trapped, like he and Sapphire had been. Only a few of them had made it to this pre-arranged position, a redoubt established in the event of something like this happening.

"This is not like them," Steel had countered. His usual dress of grey suit had been replaced by an equally gray uniform with a black Sam Browne belt. No markings of rank or medals that the humans absurdly adorned their military clothing. Many of the other Elementals were now on a full-blown War footing ever since the first defeat. "To mount a forward offensive? Why would they-"

"They know that we are on the retreat," Lead rumbled. He and Sapphire were the only ones to keep their "civilian" form of dress. "They have our 'backs to the wall' as they say. They can wage a war of attrition, knock us out completely. How can we replace our numbers?" Lead laughed, able to see the humor in any situation. "I doubt we can clone ourselves so easily!"

Steel glared at him; any sort of talk like that made him quite irritable. "There's no reason they should think we are so easy! Many more Transients have been lost than Elementals...in any event, Copper and Jet and Gold are on their way back," he rapped his knuckles on the conference desk before him. Its surface was covered with maps with symbols no human could recognize. "they will let us know what has happened."

Jade gave an exasperated toss of her silken black hair. For some reason she had chosen the uniform of a Red Guard from China's Maoist era. "We already know what has happened," she pointed at the maps. "Time has definitely broken through here, and here, with the help of the Transients."

"Time had more help than just that of the Transients," Radon murmured. Of all of them he was the quietest, almost seemingly indifferent to the events happening around him. He had a bookish appearance, and affected round spectacles, even though he clearly did not need them. "Someone…or something else is helping them."

"That is true," Mercury nodded. "No one could have damaged Diamond and Jet together."

"This speculation is useless," Steel said. "until we have more information, we will remain here!"

The other Elementals all looked at their colleague. Quite all of them had noticed an uncharacteristic agitation in him, but none of them were willing to challenge his authority. He had had his mandate from the highest source.

Steel felt their doubts, and clenched his fists. "Is that understood? That we wait here until the others return?"

"And if they don't return?" Mercury asked quietly.

Steel turned abruptly and left them, striding rapidly away from the corridor. Jade humphed, and folded her arms.

"There he goes running back to Sapphire," she said to everyone and to no one in particular. "his partner in ineptitude."

Lead frowned at her. "Why do you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? They got themselves trapped like fools, remember? And now here we are, stuck here with them as well. Amateurs, they're just in all over their heads, as usual."

"That's unfair of you to say that Jade," Lead retorted. "If it wasn't for Sapphire discovering that box…"

"The past has nothing to do with this," Radon was examining his gloves as if they were the most fascinating objects in the universe. "What has happened…what is happening…would have happened regardless. We are just caught up in the whirlpool of time. Coming…and going…on the rapids…"

"What is he talking about?" Mercury rolled his eyes.

"He's just an idiot," Jade snapped. "Along with our esteemed commander."

Radon ignored the subsequent argument among the other Elementals. He was quite content to let things happen as they may…they always did anyway.

Steel calmed himself as he approached his quarters, rooms that he shared with his partner. It wouldn't do to let her know that he'd been contentious with his associates.

Sapphire turned to him as soon he walked in, "You're back early," she said. "did you have another argument with Jade?"

"It doesn't matter," Steel slowly crossed the room, over to her. "it was…something that Radon said."

Sapphire raised her eyes. "Radon? You never took what he says seriously before."

Steel sat on the plush chair, one of the few tangible comforts in their utilitarian quarters. "He thinks the Transient Beings have help."

"Could it be possible?" Sapphire walked behind him, put her hand on his shoulders.

"If the Transuranics have turned against us…or if it is something…" his voice trailed off.

She gently squeezed his shoulders, an affectionate gesture. "No, it couldn't be."

Steel said nothing. He was thinking about what Lead had said. Later, he had thought perhaps what had followed had begun in that moment.

"What is upsetting you now? Surely not Jade…it's her nature to get under your skin, and you let her." There was a hint of reproach in her voice.

One of Steel's hands crept up, gripped hers. "Sapphire…" her murmured. "if…if it came to us…losing our position here…actually losing this battle..."

"Don't think like that," Sapphire hands lowered to his chest, and she rested her head against his. "We're not beaten yet."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?"

Steel hesitated a long moment. "What we need in this War," he said slowly. "is a new weapon, something…something the Enemy could not expect…or predict."

Sapphire stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is…"

Klaxons suddenly sounded throughout the bunker. Both of them jumped up, Steel throwing off Sapphire's grasp. "We're under attack!" he shouted, and ran back towards the conference center. Sapphire's voice called after him.

"Steel! Steel!"

_Steel!_

Steel came to himself with a start, thrown back into the reality that he was no longer in the Bunker, but in a home in California, America, on Earth. Sapphire was calling to him, from upstairs. He ran upstairs to her.

_Sapphire!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Steel burst into the nursery to find Sapphire standing over the crib. The child was lying asleep atop his cot, atop a cluster of blankets. She turned to look at him, her hands resting lightly on the crib's railing.

"Someone has been in here."

"Who has? The girl?" Steel crossed over to her, stared down at the child. It was asleep, or had the appearance of sleep.

"Yes…and someone else."

"Someone else?" Steel was alarmed. "Show me Sapphire…take time back!"

The air shimmered and seemed to ripple visibly as Sapphire's eyes glowed. The air coalesced as it revealed the events of several hours prior. Steel then saw their young Latina housekeeper, Antonia, slowly climb the stairs, approaching the nursery, clearly with some trepidation.

"Why did she come up here?"

"She heard something, and she came up to investigate." Sapphire replied emotionlessly.

"What?" Steel looked back down at the child. "Did he try to…?"

"Wait…there is someone else here."

A figure familiar to both Elementals materialized, heard their conversation, and watched him escort her back out of the nursery. The air shimmered again, and then settled to normality.

"Silver!" Steel clenched his fists, and crossed the room as if he would confront Silver then and there, although clearly the fellow Elemental was no longer available to face Steel's anger. "What was he doing here!" It was not quite a question.

"Perhaps he only wished to see our new weapons system," Sapphire glanced at Steel, without a hint of irony. "Or is that something you still wish to keep confidential?"

Steel didn't turn around. "Again, Silver has managed to put himself where he's not needed! Why was he here?"

Sapphire walked around the crib, so that he could see her. "He has that talent. But clearly there has been a leak of information: if Silver knows, who else might? Perhaps we are compromised here after all."

Steel spun around and grabbed her wrist. "Did you tell him? Have you been in contact with him all along?"

Sapphire was unruffled by his rough behavior. "No," she replied cooly. "But perhaps I should have been."

Steel stared at her intensely for a long moment, then thrust her hand away, and returned his attention to the cot. The child within seemed completely peaceful to his surroundings, looking utterly like an ordinary human infant. No, slightly older than an infant. It was difficult to predict precisely how such young Elementals would react to different stimuli – in Steel's extensive memory (and in his access to memories of the other Elementals) creation of such beings was rare – for a good reason. Only sanctioned by the highest Authority, Steel could only recall only a few instances of the creation of such beings, always for a specific - and temporary - purpose. They did not prove durable creations. More often, they were unstable beings…like the Transuranics. But even the Transuranics were not carbon copies of their origin source, and therefore…

"Did you really think that I had forgotten?" Sapphire leaned beside him, arms folded.

Steel grasped the railing with both hands, a slow and deliberate gesture. "No, I did not think you forgot. And I believe you also remember why we had to do this."

"As I recall, there was no "we" involved."

The wooden railing, painted and polished and passed for inspection by numerous federal guidelines, creaked audibly as Steel's hands tightened on it.

_Why are you still torturing me with this, Sapphire? _Steel did not trust himself to use human vocal speech.

Sapphire walked over to a small child's nightstand and dresser, which were lying toppled over; the noise of their falling was what had alerted Antonia to this room. She uprighted them, began to restore the contents of the drawers that had spilled out.

_Does it then? Your choice of words suggest you knew what you did was a… violation._

_I was – I am – still your superior. It was within my directive to do whatever I needed to do to ensure our continued survival, and our ability to _fight_. __Our...personal desires, feelings, play no part in this._

_Whatever excuse you provide, even to yourself, you knew it was wrong. You knew it then…and you know it now." _ Sapphire put the last drawer in its slot with a loud pop.

"You know also that I've made hard decisions before, in order to prevent Time from winning," This time he spoke aloud. "So have you. And I will do so again, if need be."

Sapphire replaced the final item atop the restored nightstand. A small toy image of Bob the Builder. It was only for decoration, but it still seemed out of place in this austere nursery. She regarded it as if she would a tiny Picasso.

"I know you will," she replied, very quietly. "But I imagine Silver may want to discuss that with you."

"Let him." Steel's tone implied that he was done with this direction of the conversation. "So far all he's done was to frighten away that girl. We need her."

"Silver's concern was for Antonia. He didn't want her to be in this room…with him." Sapphire glanced down at her child; for a moment, her features creased with anxiety and a touch of fear. She clenched a hand to her breast "What have we done, Steel?"

"I've told you before," this time Steel spoke as if to a companion. "we are fighting an insurgency. Sometimes...innocents may be hurt. But we will do our best to ensure such...casualties are kept to the minimum."

Sapphire shook her head, this time, the emotions were clearly visible on her face. "I didn't think I could bear it at first...only the possibility that there is something left of us, that you might be right, keeps me here."

For the first time in a long time, Steel's expression mirrored his partner. "Sapphire..."

The roar of an engine, a powerful car, roaring down the street, coming closer, then de-accelerating rapidly, made them both turn in a flash to the danger approaching.

"Stay here with the child!" Steel ordered, then rushed downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(As Steel rushed downstairs another unwanted memory intruded into his mind…brought there by the same sense of danger he felt now…exactly the same as then…)

Steel and Lead and Mercury ran down the corridor, their destination the doors that led to the outer barrier, and to the main entrance of the Bunker. The Bunker was designed as a maze, and there were many turns and levels, purposely designed to mislead anyone who did not belong there. The corridors had no markings, no signs of direction. They were all the exact height and appearance, white tiled floors, metal walls, ceilings. Entrances and exits with no recognizable physical doors or locks, which could be accessed by no human, only by beings whose very composition permitted them admittance. Even so, every one of them knew that they were still under threat of attack, even here, and that this very sanctuary could become itself a trap, if it fell to the Enemy.

Abruptly, the alarms died, and the silence was deafening. The three Elementals paused, hesitant.

"Is the Bunker breached?" Mercury wondered. "I see no evidence of an attack."

"There is no attack…well not at this moment, but we _are_ breached. The outer barrier has been penetrated…actually, the outer barrier was accessed improperly, and since it has…I cannot close it."

Silver emerged from the turn in the corridor behind them, as they whirled around. "Oh, and by the way I shut that annoying din off. Why do alarms sound so…well, _alarming_? If you were intending to alert one to the presence of an intruder…"

"What set the alarms off?" Steel demanded, cutting off Silver. "Did you?" Silver had annoyed him frequently by also refusing to change his attire to something more proper to their predicament. He was still wearing the same, old-fashioned three-piece suit he always preferred, and moreover looked as if he had just come from a refreshing constitutional outside in the open air.

"No, I didn't," Silver glanced at Steel, taking note of his barely-concealed rage. "But something did."

"Perhaps it's the team," Mercury said. "They are overdue. Why didn't they try to contact us?"

"They must have been prevented," Lead answered. "Looks they ran into trouble."

What trouble became immediately clear to them, as Gold suddenly appeared, disheveled and filthy, carrying a limp body in his arms. The body was small and dark-skinned and they all recognized her at once. The four Elementals rushed to them as Gold collapsed onto the floor, as if the last of his strength had given out.

"What happened?" Steel was shocked at the condition of his old friend.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gold shouted. "We were attacked. We wandered right into a trap, they were waiting for us!"

"Where's Copper?" Mercury saw that, out of the other three Elementals who had departed the bunker together, only Gold and Jet had returned.

"I-I don't know," Gold didn't meet Mercury's eyes, he stared at nothing. "We…were separated. When we were attacked…I don't know what happened to him."

Steel knelt close to Jet, whose eyes were closed, and she barely seemed to be breathing. A trickle of dried blood ran from a corner of her mouth down her neck. Her shirt was torn, and was stained a splotchy dark brown. The stains covered nearly all of the cloth. She looked as if she had been battered repeatedly.

"Jet…can you hear me? It's Steel. You're back in the Bunker. You're safe."

For a moment there was no reply, then what was left of Jet stirred, coughed. A weak murmur issued from her, that none of them could hear.

"What happened to her?" Steel grabbed at the front of Gold's tunic. "Tell me!"

Gold continued to stare at nothing, but clearly reliving the moment in his mind.

"We were tracking the Transients…we thought they were fleeing from us after Copper had sent one of them through the Time corridor, but then….then…Jet started to feel that something was wrong…it's all gone wrong!"

"Calm yourself," Mercury realized that something had deeply shocked Gold. The normally imperturbable Elemental looked…shell-shocked, even terrified. How could that be? "How many of them were there? Did they follow you?"

"I…I don't know how many…not many. But…they came so fast…Copper…he, he-"

Steel roughly shook the thin man. "Concentrate! Tell me what happened!"

Sapphire's voice interrupted Steel's questioning.

_Steel…Jet…she's still alive but she needs help. You must bring her back here._

_What happened to her?_

_She was attacked by the Transient Beings. It's them...and something else. Come away from there Steel, all of you. Please!_

"Let's get back to the others, we are doing nothing staying here." Lead picked up Jet in his muscular arms. "We better remain here," he nodded in the direction that they team had come. "Whatever was chasing them will be right behind them."

Almost as if verifying Lead's words, a distant rumbling echoed far away in the adjacent corridors, and the corridor seemed to shake just barely perceptibly, as if in an earth tremor. A faint, acrid smell, just a whiff, came to them. Silver had been correct. The Bunker was breached. But even though it was, there were many more defenses that could protect them.

Steel and Lead, carrying Jet, hurried back towards the Center. Gold looked as if he would have just collapsed on the floor, and stayed there, not even noticing that the others had gone. Mercury grabbed him and forced him to run with them.

Only a few minutes the corridor stood empty. Then a smoky mist gradually flooded the now empty corridor, blotting out the light. A few moments later, thin pinpricks of light emerged in the darkness, darted about from here to there. The points of light grew bigger, revealing the approach of swift, silent figures. The smoky mist dissipated just enough to reveal them more clearly. Three tall figures, approaching with swift, sharp movements. All three appeared almost identical, in body armor, boots, Kevlar helmets, and knee protectors. They looked like American Marines clearing a house in the desert, geared up and ready for violence. Large goggles and tan neck gaiters concealed their faces. The lights were attached to the barrels of weapons they carried in their gloved hands.

The foremost one stopped and lifted up a fist. The others likewise halted. The figure slowly bent down, touched the flat surface of the hallway floor for a moment, fingers sliding across the surface. Her partner advanced next to her, still aiming his weapon down the corridor, his finger on the trigger.

"What can you determine?"

The Transient Being stood up, and lifted her goggles onto her helmet and pulled down her wrap, revealing features that could have been those of a Hispanic/Native American woman in her mid-20s. Black strands of hair were plastered to her sweat-streaked forehead. "They brought Jet here, and then carried her back within." She peered into the depths of the corridor. "They've scattered back into the interior of the Bunker, but they are all still there."

"How many?"

"Six…perhaps. No more than 8."

The other Transient Being also raised his goggles. He looked older, in his late 40s, with sharp angled features that no human male, military or civilian, ever actually possessed. "Which ones?"

"Jet and Gold, of course. Mercury, Lead, Silver…"

"Hmm. A few of them we could possibly turn…if it is not too much hassle."

"Steel and Sapphire also. They will not be converted. It was attempted."

"No. It would be best to destroy them outright."

"if we do that, we may have to destroy the others."

"Then all the others."

The two turned to their companion, who was still behind them. He had not revealed his face. There seemed to be nothing to distinguish the three from each other, but it was evident that the two Transient Beings kept a certain distance. A large black stain discolored the front of his flak vest. He walked past them, looking towards the end of the corridor, where it branched off to the left and the right. Their eyes followed his movement. He said nothing.

"Do we pursue them now?" the female inquired. "We could end this, right here."

"We no longer have the element of surprise," the man added. "But they will be flustered by how quickly we invaded their Bunker."

"Maybe," the Other finally said. His voice was melodic and attractive. "But there is no rush. We have all the Time in the world." He glanced at his companions. "All the time. Let's have a look around this place."

The Transient Beings glanced at each other. "We have Time. But so do they. They could make a plan to resist us while we delay."

The Other turned on his heel, strode past the others; as he passed the man he gave a light tug on one of the caribiners that hung from his armored vest. The act made the Transient jerk forward. The Other's helmet banged into the Transient's as he turned to look directly at him, and he found himself staring into the darkness of the creature's goggles.

"Time is on our side," he answered lightly. "give them time…and we shall see a thing."

"What thing?" a hint of impatience was in the man's voice.

"Something else is going to happen here," the Other disappeared into the dark smoke. "Something wonderful."

The Transient Beings looked at each other. "He makes no sense," the man complained.

"He doesn't have to," she lowered her goggles, and followed. "if he is always right."

Surly, the man did likewise, with a rueful glance back to where their Enemy had retreated. He would be most happy to settle right now...especially with Steel.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Steel flung the door open just as the angry young woman nearly stumbled over the front step, her car parked at an ill angle in the driveway, the door hanging open. She regained her balance awkwardly and glared at him. She seemed upset, and slightly inebriated.

"What have you done to my sister?" she growled. "What have you _done_?"

Steel frowned. The human woman looked familiar in some way but he was hardly in the mood to tolerate any foolishness now.

"Who are you?" he demanded curtly. "What are you doing here?"

"My sister works here," the woman approached him, as if she was about to hurl herself at him. "Your friend threatened her!" she unleashed a torrent of curses at him in Spanish. Before Steel could react, Sapphire's voice came to him.

_That woman is Antonia's sister. You had best bring her into the house._

_What is she talking about, what "friend?"_

_There was no threat. She is referring to Silver. Antonia must have told her what happened here. _

_Why is she here?_ Steel couldn't keep the irritation from his thoughts, even though he knew that Sapphire would find it amusing.

_She has developed intense hostility to individuals of Caucasian ethnicity due to this society's imbalanced class and racial structures. She blames us for Antonia's distress, among other issues, and sees us as the cause._

"We don't have time for this," Steel retorted, and then realized he had said that out loud. Unfortunately the woman heard and began yelling louder, poking a finger at his chest. He spun around, and walked back into the house, of course aggravating the woman even further.

"Don't you fucking walk away from me, _pendeyo_!" she snarled and pursued him.

Sapphire was inside as Steel returned, Annalia following close behind him, still shouting. She reached out to grab the back of his jacket, and then froze in place, arm still outstretched.

"What…what the fuck…" she gasped. "What's happening?"

"Where is your sister?" Steel asked, not wasting time.

Annalia was suddenly shocked sober. She had been drinking surreptitiously at home after another humiliating, failed job interview (Mama hadn't liked her to drink at all) when Antonia came home, unsettled. Clearly it had something to do with her damned job cleaning up after rich people. She had heard all the stories from Mama and her coworkers about what went on between employers and those they considered beneath them. Annalia had immediately assumed the worst, even though Antonia insisted nothing was wrong and told her not to make a big fuss. But she knew her little sister was more vulnerable than she let on and had demanded she tell exactly what went on. The bizarre story she told her was clearly her mind's way of repressing and distorting something terrible. Annalia was so incensed, that she had grabbed her car keys.

"Annalia, stop!" Antonia had cried. "Why are you getting all hysterical? Let me handle this, don't interfere!"

"No! You should never have gone to work there in the first place! It isn't worth the crappy wage you're being paid to get taken advantage of."

Antonia was furious. "What is wrong with you? This is my job! I can't lose it! Don't go causing trouble, that's all you've been doing!" the words were out before she could take them back. She was hurt, and she could tell Antonia wished she hadn't said those words, but she was more mad than anything else.

"If you want to be a slave you go on and keep scrubbing floors for the 1%," Annalia snapped. "but not these people!" Before Antonia could stop her, she was out the door, and pulling out the driveway. She barely remembered the drive, she only knew the address because her sister had left her work papers in the kitchen, where she'd snatched them up before she could stop her. She had no plan, just to vent and break a few things, to see fear in their eyes at one of the working class talking back to them…but this had been absolutely not what she had expected. The two white people standing before her didn't seem at all put out by her anger. The man in the grey suit looked as if he didn't tolerate much at all, while his blonde wife, seated gracefully on the edge of a sofa, looked curious and a little amused. It may have been the effects of the beer she had drunk, but somehow she felt she was in the presence of something quite unearthly.

"What voodoo is this?" she gasped.

"Where is your sister?" Steel repeated insistently. "Why did you come here instead of her?"

"I…she told me what happened here. She said your baby…penetrated her mind…and there was a man here who told her to go home and forget what she saw."

"You came here to confront us?" Steel's irritation showed in his voice. "You have no business here. Go home."

_Steel…she has the Time sensitivity also._

_I thought you said it was her sister who was the trigger. It's bad enough that she must be involved in this._

_Both of them share the same traits. They could both be in danger from the Primordial._

_So…what do we do with her?_

"Where is Antonia now?" Sapphire asked gently.

"I don't know, I left her at home. Who are you people?"

"I am Steel and she is Sapphire," he said impatiently. "And now that you are here, you have put yourself in danger as well as your sister!"

Antonia waited in her quiet home, having left a short note for Mama (still at work) only stating that she and Annalia had gone out together. She hadn't put down where, not wanting to upset her. Antonia was upset enough for both of them. How could her sister be so selfish and thoughtless? What gave her the right to butt into her business? She had noticed the empty beer cans and had disposed of them before Mama could find them. Why was her sister drinking? A part of her knew that her sister was really upset at not getting a job, but how could she get one, with her attitude…no matter where she went, how many interviews and leads she got, she couldn't help but turn everyone off. And now that attitude was about to get her fired.

She couldn't wait for a bus and she couldn't keep her boss in the dark about this. She had immediately called Mr. Zamorra after her sister had driven off. He had seemed very understanding (thank goodness) and calm, and said he would be over to pick her up, and they would go over to the Hustons to personally apologize.

"We might not even have to do that," he had added encouragingly. "Maybe your sister got pulled over, and didn't even get there. Don't worry, we'll sort this out."

Antonia had thanked him, and now waited for him. He was very good he'd said, at calming down irate clients, and this would be no different. She felt a giant relief.

Mr. Zamorra hung up, nodding, after Antonia told him the best way to get to her home. He methodically closed up the office, and turned out the light. He would not be coming back her again. Together, he thought, they could do this together, and afterwards…everything…everywhere…would be different.

Annalia looked pleadingly at the two. "Please let me go. I…I promise I won't call the police…"

"Enough of this," Steel waved his arm in her direction, and Annalia found she could lower her arm. "Listen to me. You and your sister are in danger."

"From whom?"

"Other beings similar to us, but different. Malevolent." Sapphire replied.

"Beings like you? What are you, aliens?" Annalia didn't believe in angels or demons.

"In a way, yes."

Annalia forced herself to focus. "You said…my sister and I are in danger…why? Listen, I said we won't tell anyone…"

"You and your sister are Time-sensitives, although you may not know it. That means you are like a tool to be used if the others possessed you.

Like the way a telescopic sight on a rifle aids the rifleman."

"Why are we involved in this?" Annalia looked back and forth between them. "You are fighting these…Others. We don't know anything about this."

Steel interrupted. "You don't know anything, but they know you exist! That's all that matters!"

"But it does! Does that mean you want to use us instead? Is that why you brought us…my sister, here?"

"We hoped to come to you first, before they could use you against us. As it is, we have very little time."

"Can I use your bathroom?" Annalia abruptly begged. "Please?"

Steel sighed, pointed to his left. "Down there."

When she'd left, he turned to her. _She doesn't trust us._

_No, not at all. In fact, she is equally willing to consider the merits of the other side. She has been educated to observe all participants of any conflict equally, and to not make judgments based on a single side's propaganda._

_How admirable. _Steel's thought tone suggested quite the opposite. _Would she turn against us?_

_If she thought it would be best for her and her sister. But she can be easily swayed._

_Best to watch her then. Antonia will follow her here._

_Very likely. That is when the attack will come. _

"Well, this time we'll be ready."

Sapphire stood up slowly. "We weren't ready the last time."

"This time we'll have a surprise for them," Steel came closer to Sapphire. "We have to see."

"It's too early," she looked at him, urgently. "Steel-"

"It's time," he reassured her. "And we have very few options."

"We always have a choice," Sapphire placed a hand on his arm. "I made a choice."

Steel was quiet a moment. "Very well," he conceded. "We'll wait until Antonia returns. Then…we will go."

Sapphire's body relaxed in relief. Steel gripped her shoulder. "But…be prepared!"

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(_Do you remember what Silver told us about the Sanctuary?"_

_Yes. Why hasn't he revealed himself to us?_

_He must have his reasons. We must take Antonia there as soon as we can._

_You still trust him._

_You never did, I notice. But he was right all along.)_

Once they returned to the Center, Lead gently placed Jet down on the table, surrounded by the surviving other Elementals, including Sapphire. Jade impatiently pushed the others aside, placed her palms on either side of Jet's head.

"What is wrong with her?" Mercury was puzzled. "What could have injured her like that?"

Jade's body had stiffened, and her eyes illuminated the faintest tint of green. The others waited tensely for her to make her diagnosis.

"Jet was injured by a neural and physical particle accelerant, exact composition unknown. It is still in her, eating away at her from the inside." She lowered her hands to Jet's body: the wounds also started to pulsate with a pale green light.

"She's dying then," murmured Lead. The others exchanged troubled looks; if Jet and Copper were gone…taken down so quickly…the enemy facing them was formidable indeed.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Steel pressed.

Jade shrugged. "I can try to rejuvenate her damaged cells, but if it's too far gone…"

"Just do what you can." Steel looked up at Sapphire, who looked paler than usual. "What can you determine about our visitors?"

"Two of them, already in the outer ring. There's someone else with them…I can't determine who that third person is."

"Only three Transient Beings?" Silver's brow creased. "Surely there must be others."

"I can detect only two individuals definitely," Sapphire looked down. "The other one…I cannot determine its identity."

Silence from the other Elementals.

"Their 'higher power,' Radon said aloud what they were thinking. "has finally decided to show itself."

"That means that the Authority cannot help us," Lead added. "We're on our own."

"We don't know that for certain," Steel interrupted. "Sapphire, can you show us the…other entity?"

Sapphire walked towards the Center's entryway. The wide corridor beyond seemed to stretch into infinity. Her eyes began to glow the deepest blue, and the air in the corridor's center began to shimmer, and coalesce, and hum. The other Elements gathered behind her, peering into the shifting blur, except for Jade, still seeing to Jet, and Gold. He turned away, unwilling to look, a look of horror on his face. The others did not notice him.

"I think I can see the outlines of two, yes, there!" Silver pointed. "The ones in the tan pajamas-"

"Those aren't pajamas," Mercury growled. The faintest shapes of what Gold had seen dimly began to appear, move back and forth. "I doubt they came here for a sleepaway!" They could then see three distinct figures, but while the first two had outlines that were definite, the last one kept distorting, refusing to come into clear focus. Sapphire braced herself against the doorjamb, clutching it for support, as she concentrated intensely.

"We must see that one! Sapphire, you must try harder!" Steel ordered.

The air in the corridor began to pulsate, and a wind started to blow against the Elementals. The center of the blurred mass began to grow, become sharper in appearance. The two images faded, materialized into almost clarity, faded again. Beyond them was the faintest outline of another. He was indistinguishable from the other two, but then became apparent that out of the three he was actually facing towards them.

Steel glared at the projected image. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Reveal yourself to us!"

"What are you doing?" shouted Gold, who had taken refuge behind them. He was huddled under the table, clearly in terror.

"Do you recognize him?" Silver whispered to Steel.

Radon replied quietly. "It is unlikely any of us know him, really."

"Show yourself!"

Sapphire began showing the strain of her efforts. "Steel…it's-"

"Keep going Sapphire!"

"Something…something is surging through…"

The amorphous mass in the corridor suddenly doubled in size, nearly reaching towards the entrance; the image suddenly became vividly clear, and they could see him clearly, although not his face. The wind in the corridor became a roar.

"Who are you?" shouted Steel.

The being seemed to react then, taking three sharp strides towards the Center. He reached with one hand and pulled down his neck gaiter, revealing his gaping mouth. He only had 3 teeth, two incisors on his lower jaw, one from his upper, where it would fit between the others. They split open and the Elementals recoiled and the energy projecting from that mouth.

"MAASA-!"the entity bellowed, but before they could hear him Gold rushed at Sapphire.

"No!" Gold screamed, and struck her, knocking her aside. Abruptly the vision vanished, and the wind and noise disappeared. Lead grabbed Gold, pinned him. "He's seen us now!" Gold struggled helplessly in Lead's hold. "He's coming here! He's seen us!" he howled, but he couldn't break the strong Elemental's grip.

"Hold him!" Steel shouted, but it was too late. Sapphire's projection was broken. "Sapphire can you bring it back! We need its name!"

Sapphire shook her head, trembling and exhausted. "No, it's too late."

"Calm yourself, man!" Lead shouted at Gold, who struggled fitfully, then simply went limp. Lead looked at Silver and Steel. "So what now?"

Steel stepped back from entranceway, gave a hand to Sapphire as she got back to her feet. "Are you all right?" Sapphire nodded weakly, and he turned to glare at Gold but he had returned to his near-catatonic, shocked state.

"What now?' We get ready for the battle."

Silver was astonished. "Are you serious? I would think the wisest course of action is to find the Sanctuary. If that creature is what I think it is…we'll need all of us together to fight it, not to mention the Authority, and..."

"You can go alert the Sanctuary," Steel brushed past him. "We'll fight it here and now, now that we have it here."

"If you hadn't noticed, Jet is badly wounded," Silver continued relentlessly. "and Gold is certainly in no condition to keep fighting!"

"We are dealing with a Primordial. That is who the Transient Beings are following!"

"We don't know that for certain!"

"'Following'?" Radon scoffed. "The Primordials only ever enslaved others. No doubt that's what they want to do with us…if they don't destroy us outright."

"Whatever this thing is," Silver waved his arms in exasperation. "It did knock out three of us! Copper, then Jet, now Gold."

"There are enough of us here to give us a chance. Jade, Mercury, Radon, Lead, and myself." Steel glanced over at his "insulation," who nodded gamely. He looked slowly back at Silver. "You can alert the others if you want."

_Or is it that you do not want to be separated from Sapphire?_

Silver looked at him coolly. _I'd advise you against this course of action…and any others you may be thinking of. May I remind you I know of which I speak. It's very unwise._

Steel stared at him. "We'll stand our ground here. You go on."

Silver realized it would be of little use to argue with him now. "Very well. I'll bring back help…if I am able. But I would advise…"

"It would be best if you left now, before the attack." Steel muttered.

Silver felt a twinge of apprehension; he felt as if there was more going on here than just his regular rivalry with Steel. Steel wanted him out of the way for some reason - but why? It was certainly not because he feared Silver would get hurt. No, it had something to do with Sapphire. Steel had always been jealous of his and Sapphire's previous partnership, and the fact that they were still close. Well, it was understandable that Steel would be jealous, they were quite compatible...but ever since this massive disruption had started, the retreat...there was a hard - even dangerous - edge to Steel even more than usual...and he also had the bad feeling that Sapphire was in danger. He wouldn't be so gauche as to try to pry Sapphire about her partner's odd behavior, he knew that she cared very deeply for Steel, perhaps even more than she ever did for him. But he did not know Steel's feelings towards her...feelings would be something not even the Authority could make him talk about. Silver could not believe Steel would ever hurt Sapphire intentionally...but only if he could know for certain what he was planning...

Silver only nodded to Sapphire in farewell, which she acknowledged with a weak smile. He wished he could warn her, but he didn't know exactly what to warn her of. Steel was hiding something, but as Silver was a Technician (technically) he couldn't discover what. He didn't dare admit to himself what he suspected...if he did, he honestly wasn't sure what he would do, but it certainly wouldn't help matters at hand. He really didn't want to leave any of them but Steel was right in a way…the knowledge of who was their enemy had to get out.

"Very well," Silver walked to the entranceway. Gold had gone catatonic and didn't notice him at all. "Good luck, all of you, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Lead laughed. "We'll be joining you, instead!"

Silver tried to smile. "I know," he turned to Sapphire, grasped her hand. Steel pretended not to notice. She squeezed back. "Be careful," he looked around at them, hoping it was not the last time he would see them. "Remember what you are dealing with."

"The Ancient Ones," Radon added dreamily. "What things we could learn from it."

"Yes, well…let's hope it doesn't learn from us just how weak we are." With that Silver was gone.

Steel turned to the others. Silver was right: Gold was useless now. Lead and Mercury he could rely on, Radon was weak (in Steel's opinion) but better than nothing...Jade and Sapphire were here also. Jet...he didn't allow himself to think about her quite yet. It would only weaken him before the battle.

"Right," he said. "Let's find this Enemy."

But in the end, the Enemy found them.

To be continued.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Annalia finished vomiting into the toilet, still tasting sour beer in her mouth from when she'd been drinking earlier. She washed her hands in the sink, noticing that they were trembling slightly. She wondered if this was really happening, if she could believe any of this was actually happening. It was so unreal, but when she had been frozen in place, that was not a trick. Those _anglos_…aliens…whatever they were…how could Antonia not have noticed how strange they were, and kept coming back here to work? Just what was going on here? This certainly wasn't what she expected when she came here...she didn't know what she was doing actually. Just to shout and threaten, have the satisfaction of seeing the fear in the faces of the owner class, even having the police being called and being led off in handcuffs, but then her friends would rally around her cause...and then she would...but now this! She had no way to process this.

She looked around nervously at her surroundings. This bathroom was nearly the size of their whole living room at home, perfectly clean, marvelously decorated. Even though she refused to admit it, she would love to have a bathroom like this. But the important thing was to get the hell out of this house, but how was she going to avoid-

A thin scraping noise made Annalia jump, and her eyes darted around the spotless tiled place. Her eyes were drawn to the sunken bathtub (itself a monstrosity of white marble and gold taps) by the opposite wall and then the narrow window above it. Incredibly, it had been shoved it half open, and someone was actually stuck halfway through.

"Help me! Hurry, come on!" the man whispered down to her urgently.

Annalia was in no mood to think rationally - off all things a burglar now!. She climbed up as much as she could and grasped the man's arms, pulling as he struggled to get through the small opening.

Together Annalia and the man collapsed into the huge bathtub, and they both scrambled out awkwardly. She was sure he'd knocked himself out with the fall but he picked himself up quickly. For a moment she thought he was a soldier, but then she saw that his camo pants were cut off at the knees and stringy, and all he wore was a tattered grey gym muscle shirt. He had a 5-o'clock shadow and straggly black hair. For some reason, she thought he looked familiar.

"Where did you come from, what are you doing here?" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. It seemed wise to not let those two downstairs that there was another intruder here.

"I've been camping out behind the overpass, past the cul-de-sac. I've been keeping my eye on this place." He looked all around him, taking in everything. "I talked a couple of times to the maid here. Are you related? You look like here. I saw you driving up the road to this place, I was sure you'd crash right through their garage."

Annalia suddenly remembered Antonia mentioning her conversations with a homeless vet. This must be him. She suddenly felt relief that someone else – someone normal – was here. "That's my sister, she works…worked here."

"Is she here with you?"

Annalia shook her head. '"What are you doing here?"

"Like I said, I've been keeping my eye on this place. There is something strange going on here." He grasped her arm conspiratorially. "The people here…they are not human!"

Annalia was shaken to have her suspicious confirmed. "Who are they?"

"I have an idea, but it's nothing good…but let's not hang out in this 5-star crapper. Look at this shit! Is there another way out of here? Better if we get out of her first!"

"No…I don't know. Antonia happened when she was here, and she came home and told me," Annalia felt dizzy. "I thought maybe the man attacked her, and she was making up a story to protect herself. I've never been here before-"

"It's no story, Annalia. Come on…which door did you come out of? This place is so big we can get lost in here. That'll make it easier to avoid…_them_."

They hurried to the other doorway; Annalia cautiously opened it, peered out, then nodded. The man rushed through but she caught his arm, stopping him momentarily.

"Wait...how did you know my name? Who are you?"

The vet turned and looked her in the face only a second, and for a moment, only a second (but that was all it took) she understood everything.

"My name," he said deliberately. "is Maasaw."

Antonia could hardly keep herself from fidgeting nervously as she sat in the passenger side of Mr. Zamorra's Camaro. He had picked her up promptly once she called after her sister had stormed off. She wasn't looking forward at all to returning to the house. Strangely enough, she felt more worried for the Hustons, knowing how crazy her sister could get. They had tried calling them, but there was no answer. Perhaps they would be too late, and Antonia's job was already down the toilet, but maybe they could persuade them from pressing charges against Annalia.

Just as oddly, somehow Antonia felt that those things weren't very important. She couldn't keep her mind from returning to what she had seen in the house, her bizzare conversation with that man "Silver." That strange child…she was positive it had not been her imagination, that boy had talked to her inside her head! The strangest thing was that she felt that the presence was still there, watching her…and that part was not frightening at all.

She had not been able to tell that part to Mr. Zamorra, only telling him about meeting that man in the house. He had been very understanding, but he seemed to be slightly nervous too, she thought. Finally they pulled up behind Annalia's car, and Mr. Zamorra switched off the ignition and they got out. There was nobody about, and it seemed very quiet in the neighborhood, no sound except the distant whine of a passing airplane from LAX. There was no sound from inside the house.

"Hmm. No cop cars or ambulances around. Maybe they're just sitting in there have a cup of tea, huh?"

"I doubt that," Antonia muttered and rushed for the door, but Mr. Zamorra held her back.

"Just a moment. Take this." He reached to the back of his waist, pulled out his Glock and held it out to her, butt first.

"What, are you crazy? What am I going to do with that?"

"Just hold onto it, you don't have to use it…unless you see me in trouble!" Mr. Zamorra laughed.

Antonia had strong doubts that the slight Mr. Huston would try to take on a burly man like Mr. Zamorra, who looked like a drug cartel executioner, but things had taken such a strange turn she supposed anything was possible. Reluctantly, she took it and hurried put it in a pocket of her jacket. It made an uncomfortable heavy lump. Now she really wished they'd never come here, but they'd got to get Annalia out of there before she caused too much trouble.

"What are you going to do?"

"Going through the front door is a start. Just stay behind me, and don't say anything."

They went up the walkway, and approached the door. Mr. Zamorra paused; instead of knocking, he tried the door. Unlocked, it swung open.

There was no one in the hallway.

"Annalia! Where- "

"SHHH!" Zamorra hissed. "Stay behind me!"

They slowly entered the house. It was still so quiet, she was sure no one was here now

"Where are they?"

"How should I know? I'll go upstairs, you stay down here and look for them...no, stay here in the foyer. If they talk to you...don't talk to them. Just call for me and I'll do the talking."

He left her there before she could say anything. Antonia felt goose bumps raise all along her arm. That same feeling she'd felt, when she'd first heard the noise from upstairs..it was back again. Gradually, she began to feel the same ringing in her temples, only duller, more pulsating. She felt herself growing weaker, dizzier. She'd tried to call out to Mr. Zamorra as she slumped against the wall, but he was already advancing up the stairs, heading for where she'd been earlier, the unearthly child's bedroom. He seemed to know exactly where he was going.

_GO AWAY!_

The voice in her head was louder than before, and she recoiled with the impact, her eyes widening. The intent was clearly warning. She looked up and saw that Mr. Zamorra had heard it too. He stiffened and his eyes narrowed fiercely. His shoulders seem to hunch, as if he was a pitbull ready to charge. He rushed the rest of the way up the stairs, out of sight, down the hall to where the voice was...coming from!

Antonia made an enormous effort to move and follow him, but suddenly she felt two hands on her shoulders and was yanked violently back. She opened her mouth to scream, then she felt herself immobilized, unable to move or to speak.

"Don't make a sound!" Silver said.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Silver pulled Antonia away until they were in another room, which she recognized as a small type of studio. No one was in here. Boxes were still stacked against the wall, still ready to be opened and unpacked. Once they were in, Silver let go of her and quickly pushed the door shut, making as little noise as possible. Suddenly Antonia found she could move and talk, although all her limbs still felt weak.

"What's happening?" she gasped weakly.

"Another battle," Silver replied grimly. "and you don't want to be around when it happens."

He turned around, and his eyes widened.

Antonia had pulled out the Glock and had aimed it at him. She managed to hold it steady despite her alarm, and he noticed at once that her finger was inside the trigger guard.

"You're going to tell me what is going on! What are you? Where is _Senor_ & _Senorita_ Huston?"

Silver raised his arms to the level of his waist, in the universal take-it-easy gesture. "Well…I could explain but it would make more sense to you if you heard me without pointing that gun at my head."

Antonia didn't move. "Just…say something."

"All right…I'm a friend of the "Hustons," although of course those aren't their real names. As I said before, my name is Silver and their names are Steel and Sapphire. We're…well you could call us "Elementals." We…well we were a bit like policemen."

The crazy white man was right. This was all making very little sense, no matter what he said.

"What about…that baby? I think I…I heard his…its voice in my head."

"Yes I know. It's not…well it is not a child in the sense you call a _baby_, with all that messiness human babies frequently manufacure. Human children are adorable I'm sure, but this child-"

"Is it dangerous?"

Silver hesitated a moment. "Yes. I'm afraid it is."

Antonia's arm wavered just slightly. "How can that be? How can I hear its voice?"

"It's not a human child," Silver gently repeated. "It is an Elemental, like myself, created to fight Time. A child only in the sense that it is still in the immature stage of its development. But immensely powerful, certainly compared to your species…"

The man said something else about third generations, enhanced powers, and something like galactic war, but Antonia's brain was still locked on the words, _your species. _

The gun in Antonia's hand wavered slightly. This was all madness, but this man didn't seem like he would harm her. Still, she wasn't about to take a chance. She just wanted to find Annalia and get the hell out of here with her. Mr. Zamorra however…

"Your friend is a Transient Being," Silver added, completing her thought for her. "An enemy of ours. I'm afraid he's used you to bring you and your sister into this. I should have seen this from the beginning, but I suppose I was distracted by other things. This isn't the first time it's happened."

"My sister," Antonia stiffened. "You better take me to her!"

"That's going to be a little difficult. You see, she's-"

Antonia cocked the trigger back on the Glock, making Silver raise his hands slightly higher. "Please," he urged. "don't do-"

A scream from upstairs interrupted them. Silver's eyes widened in alarm.

"Sapphire!" he shouted, and in an instant he was fleeing the room, heading back the way they'd come, towards the staircase. Antonia, her momentum disrupted, rushed after him, not sure what she was doing, or was going to do.

The Transient Being who had called himself Mr. Zamorra slowly but deliberately made his way down the hallway, towards his destination: the nursery. He'd planned this for quite some time, and so far things were working out the way he'd foreseen. The human Antonia would have distracted Silver, and possibly her ability would just be enough to detour him permanently. Then, like her sister, she could be utilized properly and effectively. Likely it would be a temporary arrangement, but undoubtedly a better fate – and one more useful to Time's purposes – than if she just continued on with her useless existence as a scrubber-up after other humans. She might even come to agree with their assessment. Her older sister had already come to something of an understanding.

As for his current mission, he was also confident of its ultimate outcome. He would retrieve the new being, and also his Senior (he tried not to think of him by name) would make appropriate use of it. The Elementals here would also be swept away. This time there would be no trap for them…this would be a definitive elimination...and then...

No sign of them so far. He had half-expected to be confronted at the entrance of the house. He had given Antonia the Glock (rather, the weapon disguised as a Glock) in case he was attacked first. They would not have expected an attack from such a small thing such as her, and that would buy him an advantage. But since they weren't on the entrance or on the stairs or in the hallway, then likely at least one of them would be in the nursery.

Mr. Zamorra turned the corner and entered the nursery. As he expected he saw the typical interior and furnishings of a 21st-century human habitation of this type. The pale walls, the crib with its cradle, the toys and pint-sized furniture. He could glimpse a small figure in the crib, unmoving. Sapphire was standing before it, her arms on either side grasping the railing; she was directly between him and the child. Again, this was something that he had expected, so he expressed no surprise or alarm. She was looking at him quite cooly, also with no look of fear; from where he stood he didn't see anyone else in the room.

"So Sapphire, what are you today? Are you the prim and proper housewife minding the ranch, or are you the mother lion protecting her cub?"

Sapphire said nothing.

Zamorra snorted under his thick mustache. "So, where's hubby? Scampered off like he did before? Left you to face the music alone?"

"No, he's not here." Sapphire murmured.

"Now, that's not what I'd thought you'd say," Zamorra said. "But it doesn't matter. You know what I came here for, why don't you just stand aside like a nice lady?"

Sapphire's eyes began to glow, and Zamorra darted forward with inhuman speed, grabbing her by the throat. She screamed but it was cut off as he tightened his grip. He dragged her away from the crib and slammed her up against the wall. He pushed his swarthy, pockmarked face close to hers and growled at her.

"Now, none of that! Just like some _gringa _lazy-ass hausfrau! What were you going to do, call for the po-lice? I thought you were smarter than that Sapphire. You should have gotten away when you could, just like hubby."

Zamorra began tightening his grip, and she desperately grasped at his forearm but he was too strong. He drew back his fist.

"I thought you..were…smarter also.." Sapphire choked out. "to have fallen…for what I said."

Zamorra hesitated, puzzled, for just a second but it was enough. At that moment he became aware of a presence behind him. He whirled around, in the process letting go of Sapphire, who fell to the floor. Steel came at him, hands reaching out for him, a blast of chill air enveloping him. Zamorra felt his touch and he bellowed in sheer rage, trying to grab for him, but it was too late.

Silver and Antonia burst into the nursery. Antonia caught a glimpse of Mr. Zamorra, turning a pale white, and she shoved Silver aside, just in time to fully see Steel's fist slam down on her boss, shattering him into a million white shards, filling the air. The room felt like an icebox, although there was no air conditioning. Then it was gone, as if he never was.

Steel collapsed onto the floor next to Sapphire, his strength exhausted, as it always happened. He sensed the young human girl coming to stand directly in front of him, and he struggled to raise his head to look at her. What he saw was the barrel of the firearm in her hands, pointed directly at him.

"_Basta_!" Antonia cried. "You've killed him!"

Her finger tightened on the trigger…

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Steel collapsed on his knees, virtually paralyzed after freezing the Transient Being. In this state he was completely vulnerable. Lead was not here to insulate him, nor would he ever perform that function again.

Weakly, he struggled to lift his head, and saw Antonia, her face contorted in terror and anger, aiming the handgun at him, crying out that she had murdered her boss. That was no ordinary gun she was holding, although she did not know it. It didn't matter - it would have the effect she clearly intended.

His mental thought pulsated out, although even that was an exertion that drained what little strength he had. Sapphire was somewhere near, but he couldn't see her, and he was terribly afraid he would not be able to communicate with her. He was suddenly overwhelmed with memories, and it frightened him – perhaps it was true what the humans said about one's life flashing before one's eyes at the moment of death. As always, it was the worst memories that came to him.

_Sapphire…Sapphire forgive me…_

Steel roughly pushed Sapphire through the emergency exit, then turned and slammed the hatch shut with such force that it sank deep into the doorjamb. It would remain quite inaccessible for some time at least; time, ironically, which was what they desperately needed. His plain grey uniform was stained and torn. Sapphire was equally disheveled, one sleeve ripped and revealing her pale shoulder. She stared incredulously at him as he violently twisted the locking wheel, ripping it from its hinge.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here," Steel said, brushing his damp blonde hair out of his eyes. "The others will delay the Transients and…that monster long enough for us to escape."

Sapphire was stunned. "You can't be thinking of abandoning them!"

"They knew the odds…and they know that as long as some of us survive, there's a chance."

_Jet, staring up at him, the life fading from her dark eyes. Get yourself and Sapphire out of here, came her mental projection. Both of you must live. Go!_

Steel turned to face Sapphire, who was suddenly frightened by the look in his eyes. "They gave us a chance to survive, to keep the battle going."

"How can we fight?" Sapphire recoiled from him, but he suddenly caught her wrist in a grip that made her gasp aloud. "Steel…what do you intend to do?"

"I think you know."

_Lead using his massive body to block the firepower raining down towards them as they rushed away from the Center, his deep laughter echoing out in defiance as he repelled the Transients with his last power, only for it to be silenced by the Primordial who sent a shockwave of its own._

The Bunker shook and thundered around them, signaling its final collapse under the final onslaught. Steel ignored the clamor and insisted, "We will retreat only far and long enough for us to regroup and start again. Sapphire, listen to me! This is what we must do, to ensure our survivability!"

He told her - exactly - what he intended to do. Her expression grew from absolute astonishment, then to shock and disbelief. She jerked instinctively away from him, but he gripped her so tightly that she couldn't break free.

"No, Steel! Such a thing…it would violate every rule of the Authority! It's never been possible…even when the Authority sanctioned it..."

"It _has_ been possible. The...other results were different…experiments," Steel countered. "This is survival! Otherwise all is lost!" He tightened his hold on her, making her cry out. "You know you have the ability! You must do this!" Steel's eyes bored into hers with a fanatical intensity that terrified her. "I am still you superior! I command you to obey me on this!"

"I…I cannot!" Sapphire gasped. "Is that why you wanted Silver out of the way? You knew he would stop you!"

Steel flared at her mention of Silver. "This has nothing to do with him," Steel pulled her close so that their faces were almost touching. "We may be the last ones left of our kind! At least you must agree to try!"

Sapphire shrank from him, her mind reeling at Steel's demand. She understood that Steel was mad. "You don't know what you're asking!"

Sapphire's head snapped back as she experienced a powerful mental rush from Steel's mind in to hers. She had never before experienced such an extreme, forceful flow of harsh psychic energy from her partner. It was overwhelming, and it stunned her nearly senseless. His frenzied thoughts and emotions reverberated in every cell of her being.

_If you do not agree, then we will die here! Time will win and all will be lost! All eternity lost to Time! Do not fight me! Sapphire!_

Sapphire went limp in Steel's arms, and only his arms kept her from collapsing at his feet. She knew he meant that they would die here if she would not agree to flee with him – abandon the others - and participate in his plan. She couldn't believe her partner would compel her in such a way - it was unheard of, with an Element of his composition…but she knew how stubborn and driven to duty he was. There would be no dissuading him. Sapphire realized in this moment that she could deny him - no matter how strong he was, how mad, he would not take her by force. She could even fight him, destroy him possibly.

And yet…after all this time together…she also knew she wanted him to live.

Steel could feel her uncontrollable trembling, and when she looked up at him…he felt the enormity of his decision, her decision, and doubt shook him, but only for a moment. But now he knew that Sapphire would do what he wanted of her. He had resolved to fight, and fight he would…they would fight together. He would destroy that Primordial, and all of the Transient Beings. He would regroup the surviving Elementals, continue the war, and they would be victorious over Time.

They would do it…himself, Sapphire, and their offspring…if they survived.

The Bunker shuddered again, and his expression hardened, once again the single-minded soldier. He threw his arm around Sapphire, holding her up. "We are getting out of here. Get ready."

He could hear Sapphire's low moan over the growing din but did not allow it to distract him. They had to teleport away before it was too late.

Later, much later, perhaps he would allow himself the luxurious emotion of remorse, but for now...

Sapphire made no further resistance or sound. Steel gritted his teeth, and held her…and they were gone.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Antonia held the Glock at arms' length, pointing it directly at Mr. Huston/Steel. He was staring up at her, but not moving, as if he were paralyzed. He seemed to be waiting expectantly, as if resigned to his fate. It was that look that made her hesitate to drop the hammer, but she could barely feel her hands on the gun. She had never shot anyone before…

Silver's hand carefully but firmly closing over hers took that decision away.

"No need for that," he said as he lowered Antonia's shaking arms. "Let me take that." He gently eased her behind him as he carefully examined the firearm. He removed the clip, peered at it closely, and then put it away inside his suit jacket, tossing the rest of the gun away on the floor. He turned his attention back to Steel. "Now…as for you."

Steel was still frozen, but able to observe Silver standing over him, hands on his hips. He tried to speak but was unable to get the words out.

"Well, Steel," Silver said as mildly as he could manage. "I'm sure it's good to see you again too, although once again you appear to be in a bit of a mess. Not differently really, since the last time we saw each other, eh?"

Steel moved slightly at his rival's tone of voice, just enough to reveal his indignation. "Not...need…" The raspy words barely escaped his throat.

"Oh, really?" Silver's voice rose. "Then what would you call-"

Sapphire brushed past Silver, knelt by Steel's side and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. "Enough of this," she said briskly. "We've got to warm him up, quickly!"

"That Transient Being is gone," Silver insisted. "But we're not out of the woods yet. There could be others downstairs, and who knows what else."

"I know," Sapphire replied. "That is why we must restore Steel. Help me."

Silver grumbled. "I simply don't understand why you stay with him."

Sapphire slowly stood up. "What are you saying?"

"You know exactly what I mean! After what he's done? To you? Quite frankly, I'm surprised myself I didn't let that young lady take a shot at him!" Silver bent down and glared directly into Steel's eyes. "Do you hear me Steel, I should have let her shoot you, you…you blackguard!"

"Silver!"

"I mean it, Sapphire! I've quite a mind to just leave him here, let him get himself out of this debacle," Silver grasped Sapphire's hand. "I know the way to the Sanctuary. Let's get out of here. That's why I came here, for you."

Sapphire pulled her hand away. "Not without Steel."

"He betrayed your trust," Silver continued in exasperation. "He's been incredibly reckless, and to involve these humans in this-"

Antonia, who had been cowering by the door in stunned silence this whole time watching this argument, noticed how Steel's eyes followed what they were saying. He looked as if he could kill that other man, yet he seemed afraid at the same time, at what Mrs. Huston – Sapphire – would do.

A sudden movement from the crib made Silver and Sapphire turn around quickly. The pale blond child had climbed out of its crib and dropped to the floor, but nimbly, on his feet. Antonia was amazed to see that this child, surely no more than two, was steadily walking towards Silver, his eyes focused menacingly on him. Not like a child's clumsy walk. To her surprise, Silver's expression suddenly turned from anger to alarm, and he backed away from the child. He seemed more afraid of this baby than when she had pointed her gun at him. She suddenly understood that there was something not only unearthly about this child- it was dangerous, even to these aliens.

"Sapphire…" Silver pleaded urgently. "Do something!"

Antonia realized that Silver really was deathly afraid. Sapphire herself seemed stunned at what she was observing. The child reached its hands out towards Silver, and it was evident to all of them that he was going to attack Silver.

"Stop this!" Antonia suddenly shouted, startling both Silver and Sapphire. Antonia was surprised herself – the words had just burst out without thinking. Again, to their amazement, the child stopped his threatening advance against Silver, and looked up at Antonia – but now there was no look of adult menace; he had the expression of a just a curious child now. He was standing next to Steel, who was trying to turn around to look at him. Abruptly, the child placed both his hands on his father's body, and Steel gasped loudly, eyes widening, his body arching forward as if jolted by a powerful electric shock.

"Steel!" Sapphire gasped and darted forward, but Silver held her back. "Wait!" he ordered.

The child pressed his hands against Steel's back for a few seconds more, and they saw Steel regain his motor functions; he blinked and flexed his hands, and looked up at them.

"Fascinating," Silver exclaimed. "It…_he_ appears as if he knew exactly what to do, and how to do it."

"Do…what?" Antonia stared at them, then at the child. The boy, apparently satisfied with what he'd accomplished, seemed to have reverted back to the status of a human child. He reached out for some toys scattered on the floor, began playing as if that had been his real intention all along.

"Restore my insularity," Steel stood up, completely restored. "So I may function again." He looked wonderingly at the child. "I hadn't expected that."

"Well, you should have expected something of the sort!" Silver retorted. "What were you thinking? Do you even know what kind of power you've unleashed?"

Steel turned on him furiously. "What I know is that this may be what turns the tide."

"Is that all this means to you?" Silver waved his hands in disbelief. "What you've done? Have you even considered the future of this…this being?"

"What do you mean?"

"When it matures, do you think you can control it? You've become just as bad as these humans when they learned to split the atom-"

"I said, enough of this!" Sapphire stepped between them, swept the child up in her arms. "Silver is right…we are not finished with this mission yet. There is another downstairs."

Antonia jumped up. "My sister!"

"Your sister, and something else."

"What?"

"Your sister came here 20 minutes before you arrived with the Transient Being, the one you knew as Mr. Zamorra," Sapphire explained calmly. "He was posing as a human to lure you."

"Where is she now?" Antonia demanded. "Listen…just let the both of us go. We won't cause you anymore trouble."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Silver said regretfully. "We are the ones causing you trouble, and it's not your fault. You were targeted by the Transient Beings, because you have the ability, although a very small one, that can be of some use to…people like them and us."

"You…and them, you are in some kind of war?"

"That is correct. The Transient Beings are in the service of a…higher authority. From out of the corridor of Time. The Primordial Beings. They're not like us, exactly. They are immensely old and powerful. They can cause a lot of trouble to sentient beings. In fact, throughout your history, they have caused quite a bit of havoc. Most of them we managed to push back into Time, long ago, but they must have gotten free, or some of them anyway-"

"One of them is somewhere in the house with your sister," Steel interrupted brusquely. "If you want to get her away from it, you have to help us and stop playing the innocent bystander."

_It may be too late for that, _Silver replied to Steel privately.

_She doesn't need to know that._

Sapphire approached Antonia, still holding the child, who was clasping its arms around her neck and staring at the human curiously. "Antonia, please help us."

"How…what do you want me to do?" Antonia did not really mean that, but she was shrewd enough to try to play along. As long as she could get ahold of Annalia, and get the hell out of here, and let these whoever-they-were fight amongst themselves.

"It's very easy," Steel said to her. "Go downstairs and find out where they are."

"What?"

"The Primordial Being will not kill you," Silver replied bluntly. "He wants to use you too, as he is probably planning to use your sister."

Antonia was suspicious. "So how do you know I won't help that other one?" Anger and fear made her blurt out the words before she could really think about it. "Maybe everything you are telling me is wrong."

"We don't." Silver said.

Antonia hesitated, stared at the three, no the four of them, who were watching her as if holding their breaths. Why was she doing this?

"All right. I'll go look for them. But I'm getting my sister and then I'm getting out of here. I'm not doing anything more." Antonia glared at Steel. "I'm not a part of your war!" She turned and left the nursery.

Silver took a deep breath. "Well, Steel, is this still a part of your plan?"

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Antonia raced down the stairs, unsure of her next move or really where she was going, just anywhere away from that nursery. A lifetime of living in LA had conditioned her not to trust the local police, and she knew anyway that it would be useless to call them. What would she tell them? That aliens had killed her boss? She didn't know what to believe – Mr. Zamorra an alien, of all things? A 'Transient Being' (whatever that was)? The idea was crazy. She remembered him interviewing her for the job, giving her her first assignment, even giving her rides to the market and back home when the buses broke down. Never had she noticed that there was anything out of the ordinary, much less "extraterrestrial" about him.

_Admit it, she thought. The moment he entered this house something changed about him. Not his appearance, but something. As if he were assuming his real identity. As if he knew exactly what he was going to find. And if it was all true…_

It doesn't matter anyway, she reminded herself, her family must come first. She had to find Annalia. Whatever disagreements they had had in the past, she was her only sister, and they had to get out the hell out of here. Later, maybe, they could figure all this out. Focus on that.

The house was quiet and she could hear nothing; from prior experience she knew in this huge mansion her sister could be anywhere, maybe she was even hiding, or passed out somewhere.

"Anni!" she cried out. "Anni, where are you? Tell me where you are!"

No answer.

Antonia ran from room to room, increasing the distance between the nursery room and herself, going from the study to the separate bedrooms, the spa room, the other bathrooms, the home office, the library, the art studio. Again, that sensation of seeing a house not meant to really be lived in, making Silver's bizarre tale seem all the more real. As the minutes passed, without any sign of Annalia, Antonia became more and more desperate. She pulled out her phone and dialed Annalia's number repeatedly but it kept going to voicemail. Frustrated, she slammed her hand against the wall, on the verge of tears.

She looked up, and realized she'd ended up on the periphery of the pool room. She could see outside where the chlorinated waters lay as still as glass. The light was beginning to fade, casting shadows over the pool. The smell of chlorine suddenly assaulted her nostrils. Surely another disused room, but then she thought she caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of her eye and her heart leapt.

"Anni? Anni, is that you?"

Antonia turned around and ran straight into her sister. She stifled a frantic shriek, her hands going to her mouth. Annalia stared back at her…but what was she on? Her pupils were dilated, her skin looked clammy and pale. There was a strange intensity about her, as when she got worked up into one of her political rants.

Antonia recovered from her shock. "Where have you been? Let's get out of here right now!" She grabbed at her arm.

Annalia didn't move; she didn't even seem happy to see her. "What are you talking about?"

Antonia quickly explained what had happened upstairs in the nursery. "We're wasting time here, c'mon just let's go!"

"No, wait." Annalia grabbed her arm. "There's someone you have to meet."

She stared at her, beginning to feel that something was terribly wrong.

Annalia grabbed her sister's wrist, turned and charged into the pool room, pulling Antonia with her. At first she couldn't see anything, it was so dark. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, she thought, just for a second, that she saw someone crouched in the far corner, someone…something with a bulbous head and huge, inhuman eyes, its knees drawn up to its chest. Antonia felt her heart suddenly pound in her chest.

The light suddenly flashed on, and she threw her hand up instinctively to her eyes. She lowered her hand, and then, instead of what she had feared she had thought she saw, there was someone she recognized standing in the corner where she'd seen, thought she'd seen, that strange figure.

"You!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, Him, you have to meet Him!" Annalia said with a weird urgency Antonia didn't understand at all.

"We've already met," he nodded to Antonia, walking towards them "Remember, on the street?"

Antonia was not making sense of this. What was the homeless vet doing here? How did Anni know him?

"I followed your sister into the house," he explained casually. His voice was the same, but she thought…it wasn't quite the same person she'd talked to, but she couldn't think why not. He was dressed in the same ratty clothes. "I had to get her away from _them_."

"Senor…Steel," Antonia said slowly. "Sapphire and Steel, and...Silver. That's...that's who you mean. They were talking about _you_."

Annalia grabbed her sister, whirled her around so that she was in her face. Instead of the dulled incuriosity, now there was a wild passion that she saw shocked even her, even after being used to her political ranting.

"Listen to what he has to say! He's going to remake the world! This whole fucking city, society, _Time_…"

Suddenly furiously angry, she shoved her sister off her, turned to face the Primordial.

"Stop it! Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

"My name is Maasaw," he replied. "I come from the Southwest. I wanted to tell you earlier, before you came here, but your sister decided to pre-empt the time schedule…but it doesn't matter. It was coming down to this anyway, right here. As for what I want…" he glanced quickly out the entrance but still neither of them heard any sound, as if there was still no one in the house but the three of them. "I think that the two of you can help me."

"I'm not helping _shit_," Antonia snarled. "This hasn't got anything to do with us! What part of-"

"It's got more to do with you than you know!" Maasaw stared at Antonia like she was out of her mind. "Didn't you see them? The Elementals? Why do you think they hired you? The only person to work for them, they chose you. They came here for that reason!"

A sudden realization came to her. "Mr. Zamorra…he was working for you?"

"Yes. You were-"

"I was the _bait_ you mean," Antonia was furious again. "_What do you want with us?" _She realized she was shaking, her hands clenched into fists. Her sister was staring at the vet with a crazy look of...devotion?

"Not with you…with the small one. Didn't you notice it?"

"What….why do you-?"

"It's deadly!" For the first time, Maasaw seemed furious, and his eyes seemed to grow larger in his face, and Antonia stepped back in alarm. "It's a weapon. A weapon shaped as a child! They would actually, _actually_ to try to use a child to try to kill me!"

"But you can't be killed!" Anni burst out, a look of proud defiance in her mad face. "You are a god!"

Antonia stared at her sister in shock. All her life she had never known her sister to be religious. She often mocked Mamma's Catholic devotion behind the old woman's back.

"What have you done to her?" she whispered in horror. "Let her go. Please!"

The Primordial now looked puzzled. "I haven't done anything…your sister is merely expressing her own true devotion to the truth, as she always has done."

_Her people knew me as Xipe Totec_. _We are the same._

The voice came extremely clear as a bell to Antonia's mind, although she didn't see his lips move. It seemed to buzz in her head like a shot of tequila, but she didn't understand the meaning.

"No," she said firmly. "I don't care what you want to do. We're getting out of here."

"No!" Anni suddenly grabbed Antonia's wrist tightly she couldn't escape. "We're not going anywhere."

"Anni, listen to me…you're drugged, or something, whatever you've done to yourself…just let's go, we'll do whatever you want to do later!"

"She wants to help, in the war against the police," Maasaw laughed. "That is why you are both here…both of you possess a small ability concerning Time. Any human that is affected by it shines out to us...to the Elementals as well. They want to lock all such humans up. We've been the ones to protect them."

"We don't have any ability...we haven't done anything."

Maasaw was unmoved. "I don't yet know how strong your ability is, but we're going to see very soon, I think."

She stared at him. Maasaw, if that was really his name, hardly looked like anyone to put up a fight to policemen, let alone aliens. He seemed utterly unconcerned about anything, but his eyes seemed to be growing darker.

"What do you want with their child?" Antonia asked slowly.

"Think of me as Child Protective Services," Maasaw said. "All I want…is to ensure that their…offspring does no harm."

"If we help you…you'll let us go?"

"You don't understand, you never did," Anni sneered contemptuously. "If we win, total freedom! Anarchy! Just what I've always talked about! I will stay!"

Antonia forced herself to ignore her sister's words. "You will let us go?"

"You are free to go anytime, but it doesn't matter," he turned slowly to the entrance of the pool room. "They are coming."

The building began to shake.

Coming soon - the conclusion!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Antonia felt the house vibrate, grabbed at a nearby table in alarm. Jugs of chlorine fluid on the countertop jiggled precariously but didn't topple over. "Is it an earthquake?"

Maasaw peered up at the ceiling, as if he could see through it. "Just something to try to shake our Elemental friends out into the open."

"How will they know where you are?" Antonia shook her head – what else was going to happen.

The Primordial turned to her, grinning toothily. "Why not you go an tell them?"

* * *

><p>Silver lunged forward and grabbed two falling bottles of expensive champagne before they hit the black-and-white tiled floor. He put them carefully back on the bar, brushing dust from his reddish-brown hair.<p>

"Our enemy is trying to get our attention, it seems," he muttered in annoyance.

"Let him shake all he wants," Steel's hard, grey eyes scanned the expanse of the barroom, looking for any sign of approaching movement from the entrances. Sapphire was not in the room with them. "We won't fall into his ambush this time."

"Is that what happened at the Bunker?" Silver tensely straightened his tie. "You've never told me how it...what did happen?"

Steel wouldn't look at him. "This is the hardly the time or place for reminiscing."

"I'm not asking for a reminiscence, I want you to tell me what happened after I left," Silver stepped down from the bar and approached his associate. "I want to know." Silver's tone suggested he wasn't going to let this drop.

Steel hesitated, then answered, "Not long after your departure...the Primordial managed to draw us out, using his Transient Beings. We thought we would encounter them first, and we did. We tried to get them out of the way, and then attack the Primordial. They were only a diversion. He came up behind us. We tried to fight them but we were too…too disorganized, scattered. The first one he attacked was Lead." A long pause. "Lead stepped between him and myself."

"And then you fled." It was an accusation.

"We retreated!" Steel glared at him. "Jet, the others, they covered us, so we could survive."

Silver wasn't impressed with Steel's anger or justification. "You let the others die, or be captured, so you could take Sapphire away."

Steel looked away, not willing to be drawn into this again, or let Silver see any pain in his eyes. "Yes, so I could take her away, to safety."

"So you could force yourself upon her - to violate her!" Abruptly Silver lunged, grabbed Steel's collar with both fists and yanked him back so that they were face-to-face. "I was an idiot - I should never have left her there with you!" he snarled in Steel's pale face, truly furious.

"Is that what this is about?" Steel gasped. "You and Sapphire?"

"Yes, damn you! I _also_ care about her, yes, I care!" Silver shook his head in mixed rage and incredulity. "How could you do it? She trusted you!"

"I did what I had to do to continue the war," Steel drew a deep breath. "Sapphire knew it and accepted it," He looked evenly at Silver. "I will do it again, if need be."

Maddened now beyond words, Silver shoved Steel violently against the wall, his body hitting with a heavy thud that echoed throughout the room. Steel braced himself, and grasped at Silver's forearms. Pain shot through Silver and instinctively he threw up a knee into Steel's groin, doubling the stronger Elemental over in surprise and agony. Silver was quite surprised himself, but he was too outraged to consider it very deeply. In fact, he felt an immense satisfaction.

"Erm….uh…excuse me."

Another voice drew their attention from each other, towards the far side of the room. The human Antonia stood there, looking very awkward as if she'd stumbled onto a family fight. In a way she had.

"Ahh, you'll have to pardon us, Miss Ramirez," Feeling a bit embarrassed, Silver let Steel go, brushed his sleeves. "Just a bit of a disagreement."

_Great, _Antonia thought. _Now they are fighting each other. What kind of people are these? I'll just have to get us out of it…try to point them towards each other and let them have at each other, they can wipe each other out. I don't know what's gotten into Anni, she's just drugged or something, but once we get out of this house it'll be better._

"Your sister isn't drugged, she is possessed by that creature to do its will," Steel interrupted her thoughts, recovering from Silver's assault. "Now you need to help us," Steel's eyes narrowed. "Where is your sister?"

"With...with _him_."

_No, _Sapphire's thoughts reached Silver and Steel, and – much to her surprise – Antonia. _She is here with me._

* * *

><p>While Silver and Steel had gone down to the barroom, Sapphire had taken the child and crossed over to a separate part of the house, where a little gallery had been added as an afterthought to the completed mansion. The previous owners of the house had fancied themselves art collectors, and when they had passed away they left no living relatives to claim their valuable collection, nor had they made any provision for it to be picked up by anyone else. It would just sit there on the walls, and on various, carefully chosen sites on the floor, until someone, somewhere in the city would decided what to do with it all. She sat down on a bench and looked up at the paintings, the postmodern sculptures.<p>

Sapphire found that she very much enjoyed looking at the human creativity here– not all of it was to her taste of course, but she knew that that particular appreciation was lacking in most of her kind…what were left anyway. They did not create art, did not have a need for it, and most of them had no eye for it. Steel, for what little sensitivity he did possess, fell into that category. He hardly ever came into this room, while Sapphire realized that she had spent most of her time here, when she was not in the nursery. It was...peaceful here.

Sapphire looked down at the child in her arms. Only a few times had she interacted with human children. They had been pleasant encounters, even though they had usually gotten in the way of the completion of an assignment. She had never once considered herself in the role of a…a _mother_ like the ones she had encountered. It was never a possibility when the Authority decided such matters. She had thought mothers no different from any other human. She was aware that the human Antonia had noticed how strangely they had acted as parents…she had considered preparing a response in case she was ever asked, but the task had strangely eluded her. She could hardly explain how Elementals were created; it would have been beyond the girl's understanding. At the most she could only give a glimpse of the strict protocols, the laws of nonhuman physiologies – perhaps she could have used the example of the creation of a nuclear reactor from scratch, virtually incomprehensible to the average, non-scientist human. The Authority had decided all that. But what Steel had done…

Sapphire pulled her thoughts away from that direction; what was done was done, and she realized now that it had been counterproductive to castigate Steel when he needed all his focus to be on thwarting the Primordial pursuing them. Silver, on the other hand…well that was something Steel would have had to deal with eventually.

They would also need to decide what to do with the child, once this mission was over.

Footsteps, approaching.

Slowly, Sapphire stood up, waited. Light footsteps, rising, falling.

A figure approached in the doorway. The gallery was not dark, but there was no bright lighting – the old owners had decided it would harm the artwork. Yet it was light enough to see who it was.

Annalia Ramirez coldly appraised the Elemental woman before her. Her appearance was everything she detested – white, blonde, beautiful. What else did you need to start a revolution? She could not admit to herself that she was falling into the same trap of judging superficially, something even her most radical professors had taught against. But she had had too many strikes against her, too many failed hopes.

She felt the residual power of the Primordial Being course through her, if she could have known, it was the only energy sustaining her, the anger and resentment fueling it. Without it, she would have been unconscious from the alcohol and sleeplessness hours ago. She only knew that He represented power, the power to change the universe itself, more than _theory_ ever could. As it had been in the past, when those of his kind reigned, so shall it be again. She would be honored to have been part of even the smallest part of that.

Sapphire knew this too, instantly. Her blue eyes began to glow.

Annalia felt that she knew what Sapphire was doing. "_Puta_!" she growled, feeling as if she was being pushed backwards, and she called up the power that she felt sustaining her. "Your tricks aren't going…your tricks aren't….aren't going….to work…work…work anymore!"

She threw her arms out, and Sapphire recoiled, the blue light beginning to fade, but she recovered, and concentrated. Annalia felt that weird _push _again, as if an invisible football linebacker was trying to shove her out of the room. And then she was going backwards, backwards in time.

_NO!_

Annalia pushed back with her mind, and saw that wretched bitch stumble again, her hateful blue eyes flickering, and she pushed again, driving her to her knees. The child she was carrying fell from her arms, and tumbled to the floor. It started wailing like an ordinary brat, and her heart leapt in triumph.

A dark voice echoed in Annalia's mind, it was warm, and resonant of the homeland, like a warm wind smelling of desert flowers.

_Get the child and hold it. Do it as quick as you can._

Annalia felt the push backwards dissipating enough so she could rush forward, but before she could reach it, the woman's head snapped up, and she recoiled at the brightness, it was overwhelming, as if she was running down a dark alleyway, and the lights of police car had pulled up. It blinded her; she threw up her hands in front of her face and cried out in terror.

_Back! Back_! roared a voice and it was a man's voice this time, the white man's. The push now became a shove, and she toppled backwards, all the power leaving her. She yelled out in rage.

Suddenly arms grabbed her shoulders and shoved her roughly to the ground. She screamed, knowing that she had lost her chance. She struggled but other hands were holding her still.

"Anni, stay down!" It was her sister, the foolish one, the one who would never listen. She was trying to keep her from her moment of glory!

Silver and Steel rushed into the gallery, just as the house shook again, more violently than before. The sculptures that were top-heavy fell over and were smashed to pieces, and the walls cracked, sending the picture frames tilting madly.

"Get ready!" Steel shouted.

Antonia looked up, struggling to keep her sister down, who was writhing and screaming like a possessed woman in a bad horror movie. She heard Steel shout again but did not know whom he was shouting to. Then she saw the right wall of the gallery, actually bulge inwards, once, twice, then suddenly implode with a terrible noise. She tried to cover her eyes from the flying bits of plaster and drywall, and felt Anni slip out from under her like a fish.

In the midst of the flying debris, Maasaw strode into the center of the gallery, teeth bared, eyes and head swollen grotesquely; subtly changed, he was closer to his traditional form. It was the creature from the Bunker. Tucked under one arm was the goggles and helmet he had worn there.

Silver stared at it. _Is that it, the Primordial?_

Steel lifted his arm. _It is. Be careful._

_Incredible!_

Maasaw kept his eyes on them, slowly circumambulating the centerpiece of the gallery, a Modern Art sculpture of a melted globe; it was bolted to the floor so it had not fallen over. There was no sound except for the muffled cries of the Elemental child, whom Sapphire was sheltering desperately in her arms, her eyes fixed on the Primordial. The effort to repel Annalia had exhausted her. Silver and Steel stood protectively beside her, their eyes also never leaving their enemy, and not quite concealing the fear they felt.

**Ok, NEXT chapter is the final chapter and epilogue!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Steel and Silver watched the Primordial as he paced behind the wretchedly ugly modern art sculpture; the monster was keeping the thing between itself and them. Silver wondered whether it wary of them also. Perhaps it was contemplating the Elemental child, whom Sapphire was guarding in her arms, as if her arms alone could defend him from the creature. She was composed, but they both could see she was close to collapsing in terror, remembering what had happened the last time they had encountered the Primordial. The child was staring at the creature, looking confused at all the commotion.

_Well, Steel, let us hope your plan works_. Silver directed his thought to Steel alone.

_If you do what we discussed, then we have a slight chance of making it out of here alive, _Steel responded. _And one more thing, Silver…_

_Yes?_

_If I fall here…take Sapphire and the child to the Sanctuary. Give me your word that you will do this._

_I'll do my best. _Silver looked at Steel. _You know I will, but you had better not, for Sapphire's sake._

Antonia watched all of them warily, keeping as far back away from the aliens as she could, while also trying to keep within range of her sister. She was prepared to grab her and run as soon as it looked like it was going to hell. Annalia however, seemed to be in a separate reality. She was watching Maasaw – whatever he was calling himself – circle that sculpture, which she thought looked like a giant melted club, with an expression that could only be described as adoration. She was possessed.

A sense of unreality hit her. She still couldn't believe what was happening, that this was some kind of colossal showdown between opposing alien forces. Maasaw, despite his changing appearance, still looked like the scruffy homeless vet he originally presented himself to be, dressed in his torn gym shirt and camouflage pants, barefoot and sleeveless, while the two Elemental men looked like a pair of undercover cops about to jump him. But Antonia could see that Sapphire was obviously terrified of Maasaw, even though she was trying to protect her little boy. Antonia suddenly wished she could help her, but she didn't know what to do. _What do I do? _Antonia thought.

Abruptly Maasaw stopped moving around the sculpture, and his head twitched.

"Sapphire, Silver, and Steel…and something else," he said, his voice also altered, sounding deeper and oddly, like it was coming from underwater. "What it is, I do not know exactly, but what I do know anyway?" He made a _hrh hrh hrh_ noise as if he were laughing. "I know what _you_ want to do. Now, it would be best for you, and for _it_, if you give _it_ up."

"Ah, I think not," Silver interjected. "You see, we're here to send you back to the darkness, where you belong."

"What _I_ did?" The Primordial shook its head; something black was falling from his head, and to Antonia's horror, realized that his hair was falling out of his head, strand by strand. "You people have hindered everything that should have been, but now your time is over. Things will be as they were again, and everything will be the better for it. The Fifth World will emerge and erase this old and sad world."

_What is he talking about? _Silver wondered.

_He means the corridor of Time, _Sapphire's thoughts were faint. _He wants to destroy the barriers separating the universe and Time. That is why he went after the Authority._

"Your Authority is no more, and there are only a few of you left anyway," Although he was speaking to them, the Primordial's eyes never left the child, who clung tightly to his mother as if he knew that the creature meant danger for it. "And I know are thinking of using that child's power against me. Your motives are very transparent, and foolish."

Steel stepped forward. "You can't have the child," he said firmly. "And if you try to attack us you will be destroyed. You have no element of surprise now."

_Steel…._ Silver's voice sounded worried. _Be careful..._

Maasaw held out the Kevlar helmet with its goggles out in front of him. His head started to swell hideously, his hair falling out in clumps, his eyes sinking into his skull. The room seemed to darken, and his eyes glowed like tiny sparks of flame in his head. Antonia stared in horror, while Annalia drew in breath sharply, eagerly anticipating the victory, pumping her fist.

"You can leave the child with me and I will let you leave. Go to your 'Sanctuary' and wait for me there. You can enjoy what time you have left together, in your Old World."

Sapphire stood up, gently but firmly pushing the child behind her. Antonia saw that weird blue glow of her eyes, and for the first time, anger: the anger of a mother when her child is threatened.

"Go back" Sapphire commanded. "Go back to the darkness."

Maasaw seemed to brace himself, but then seemed to be pushed backwards. He stumbled, and for a moment they all thought he would be hurled backward as the air particles coalesced around him, partly obscuring him, then he vanished.

"No!" roared Annalia. Snarling she rushed at the Elementals, but Antonia grabbed her. She cursed in Spanish, but Antonia was physically bigger.

"Is he gone?" Antonia shouted.

For a moment it was deathly quiet in the gallery, and all of them held their breath, the Elementals not daring to hope that this might have actually worked.

"Antonia," Steel said. "We were wrong to keep you here. Take your sister and get out of here, both of you."

"No," Antonia said, and that was a surprise even to her. "There was a reason you brought us here. What was it?"

"It doesn't matter now," Silver said impatiently. "Get out of here before-"

The air swirled again, and an invisible gust of hurricane-force wind nearly knocked them all backwards. The child cried out in fear, and Sapphire grabbed onto him again. Maasaw re-appeared, wearing his "helmet" but now it was a mask that covered his entire head, which appeared twisted, elongated grotesquely, his mouth shrunk to an oval, He had huge goggle eyes, fanged teeth, and his head had the look of a bloated, blood-red nearly un-fleshed skull. Maasaw in his god-form as he was known to the ancient humans, Silver realized in horror. For a moment, he could understand why Steel had left the Bunker.

Maasaw made a sharp downward cutting motion of his arm and the blue light vanished from Sapphire's eyes, and she collapsed to her knees, stunned. Steel and Silver rushed to her side.

The child made a high, keening noise, and rushed at the creature, hands outstretched. Instinctively, Antonia grabbed for him and pulled him away, before he could touch the monster. Annalia also tried to grab him, but Antonia batted her sister away.

"Give him to me!" Annalia roared, clawing at her sister. Furious, Antonia struck out, popping her sister with a well-placed punch. The failed grad student dropped like a brick. Maasaw simply watched, his head tilted slightly as if in amusement.

He took a step towards them, but then Silver pulled Antonia and the child away, leaving Annalia unconscious on the floor.

"Silver, unhand that child!" Maasaw roared.

Sapphire struggled to her feet, and her eyes began glowing again. Maasaw stretched out his arm towards her, and abruptly she began choking and fell back to her knees, her hands going to her throat, as if struggling to free herself.

"Sapphire!" Steel turned towards the monster then froze as the creature stretched out its other arm to him.

"You can try to reach me in three steps, Steel," Maasaw said in a low, dangerous voice. "If you can I'll let all of you live to reach the Sanctuary. But I don't think you will. You'll run, like you did before."

Steel rushed towards Maasaw, but before he achieved more than a few steps he recoiled back as if struck; there was a horrendous tearing sound, the sound of cloth and metal ripping, and Steel cried out. Shocked, both Sapphire and Silver saw a crimson gash spurt from his shoulder to chest. Steel fell to his knees, but he kept his eyes fixed on Maasaw.

The Primordial had not moved, or said anything. He simply stretched out his arm, his fist closed - he opened his hand, and revealed his grisly trophy: a strip of flat metal, which glistened as if wet.

"One," Maasaw said, through his helmet, his voice sounding ironic.

Gritting his teeth, his eyes set in grim fury Steel forced back the pain and struggled to his feet. He came towards Maasaw again, closing the distance between them by half, before he cried out again and fell on his side. They now saw that his trouser leg was torn down to the knee, everything above it a mass of crimson.

"Steel!" Sapphire screamed, unable to move or to help him.

Maasaw stretched out and opened his other hand, revealing another strip of the dripping metal. He dropped both pieces on the ground, and they clattered loudly.

"Two." The strange _hrh hrh hrh_ sound came from beneath the macabre helmet, and Antonia could not tell if he was laughing or choking himself.

Shaking, Steel braced his hands on the floor and pushed himself up, a pool of blood (or so Antonia assumed, but it wasn't quite the right color) appearing beneath him. He staggered unsteadily to his feet, but he was standing again, favoring his left leg. His eyes drifted towards his partner, saw her anguish.

_Sapphire…_

A memory flashed into his mind, of the time they had fled the Bunker. Sapphire had looked the same when they had teleported away. Then, Steel had vowed never to see that look on her face again.

"Will you try for three?" Maasaw asked. "Do you want to go on? Just stop it."

Steel's only response was to drag himself towards the Primordial. Antonia suddenly felt a drop in temperature, and goose bumps on her arm, and realized, as they all did, what he was trying to do.

Maasaw knew it also. A distinct angry, irritated noise emanated from beneath his mask, and he gestured sharply at Steel, who collapsed again, viscous red fluid spilling from his stomach and side. He writhed in pain, feeling consciousness drain from him.

_Sapphire..._

He opened his eyes, seeing this time the child, their child, his eyes starting to glow...

Behind them was Silver, his eyes fixed on Steel's, waiting for the cue.

_Now, Silver!_

With the last of his strength Steel thrust his body forward, arms reaching out. Maasaw stepped back, thinking that Steel was trying to freeze him, but instead he grasped the metal sculpture, which promptly froze into a solid pillar of ice; it began to crack. The fluids dripping from Steel stopped, the droplets freezing to the floor.

Antonia was never quite sure what happened next. She saw Steel grasp the pillar, his inhuman adversary hesitating in confusion. Perhaps that was what they needed all along. Suddenly the pillar exploded away from Steel towards Maasaw, who dropped his arms and turned away to avoid the flying metal shards. Antonia turned and thought she saw Silver and the child...the child's eyes were glowing like Sapphire's only with a pale white light. Antonia was suddenly reminded of an old horror movie she saw on one of the cable channels, about alien children taking over the Earth. Silver had...Antonia wasn't sure. She thought she saw a glowing orb hovering behind the child, shimmering like silver...was that...their true form?

_Antonia, _Silver's voice suddenly emerged in her head. _Antonia, help us...pull the child away quickly!_

_What is happening?_

_No time...hold him or he will be sucked away with the Primordial!_

A vortex of wind was forming behind the Primordial, who was yelling something in a language she didn't understand - the metal shards had pierced his helmet, and he seemed stunned, like a heavyweight boxer who was punch-drunk. The child's eyes pulsated and Antonia rushed to do as Silver said. She touched the child, and for just a second, felt the incredible power that little form contained, as if she were touching a live wire, but not being shocked. At the same moment, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anni rush forward and step between Maasaw and the child just as a pulse of energy seemed to shoot forward.

"Anni, no!" Antonia screamed, but it was too late. The invisible pulse seemed to pass through her sister, and Maasaw collapsed, as if folding inwards, and he disappeared. The vortex swirled, and vanished, and so did the wind, and it was still again in the gallery. Anni collapsed, unconscious again on the floor. Anni let go of the child and ran to her. The child, seemingly normal again, ran to his father, and placed his hands on him as he had done before. Steel coughed violently, and looked around him, as if in disbelief that they had managed to fling the Primordial back out of this world.

Free from the Primoridial's restraint, Sapphire ran to Steel, clutching his bloodied body in her arms, stroking her hands through his hair. He was battered and weak, but he managed to return her embrace, clasping her face in his trembling hands, his eyes staring for a long moment into hers. They said nothing, out loud. The child laughed, a strange sound, clapping his little hands.

Silver saw them. He could not hear their thoughts. It was obvious that mental conversation was only for the other, but he could deduce what they were saying. It had something to do with an emotion he had always assumed were nonexistent, or at least unnecessary, to his kind. Oh, it was practically a given that Agents would become close, perhaps even engage in a liaison or two…or three. That was only to be expected when their job was of such high importance and danger, one had to relieve one's tension somehow, but for it to become anything more than that…well, that was only appropriate for the lower order of beings in the universe…or so he had thought. Silver had thought such a thing was beyond them, until now. He could not share in what they felt for each other, it was… an _alien_ emotion…but he could only look on in wonderment, and also a tinge of envy. He cleared his throat, discreetly.

"Well, that seems to have worked," Silver acknowledged. "But that was very, very risky, Steel. We were lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Steel said hoarsely, Sapphire helping him back onto his feet. "Now, do you see?"

"The Primordial has been thrown back, but you know that's only temporary," Silver was not quite convinced. "Nothing has changed, really."

"Something has indeed changed," Sapphire murmured.

The Elementals looked at Antonia, sitting next to the motionless body of her sister, a look of numb shock on her face.

_Will the sister live? _Silver asked.

_She is in a coma. She acted as the insulation for the Primordial. Because of her action, the Primordial is only temporarily thrown back into Time. She will live, but whether or not she can ever fully recover, I cannot say. But the human mind is remarkably resilient._

_Antonia also acted as insulation? _Silver was amazed.

_Yes...I don't know. If she hadn't...perhaps the effort would have been too much for the child._

_You really must think of a name for him!_

Silver could tell that she regretted that this family was shattered in order to preserve hers. But, he knew that sometimes that was common in war. He sighed. "We need to get Steel to the Sanctuary right away, he's very badly wounded," he said to Sapphire. She seemed not to hear him, still looking at the young humans sadly.

From a distance, but growing louder, came the sound of wailing sirens. Someone in the neighborhood had eventually noticed the goings-on next door and called 911. That seemed to bring Antonia partly out of her shock.

"Antonia…" Silver began hesitantly, but for once he wasn't sure what to say.

"Go, get out of here," she whispered. "You shouldn't be here when they come."

"We'll never forget what you did," Steel said. "Thank you."

Antonia looked at them, and at the little boy. All four of them were looking at her with mixed sadness and compassion, or maybe she was imagining it. Could these beings feel such emotions? She wanted to be angry, raging angry, but much more than anger at the destruction of everything she had known, she felt an immense pity for them. Her life would eventually return to what it had been, maybe even become normal and mundane again, but for them, their war was forever. Now that was truly tragic, she thought.

"Go," she repeated. "Go and fight your war. I'll pray for you."

Sapphire nodded to her silently, and as if that was a signal, the Elementals grasped hands together. In the next second, they were gone, just like that, as if they had never been here at all. Only memories Antonia had to show that they were once real. Antonia held her sister's motionless body close, and only hoped that she would not forget.

**Epilogue**

The EMTs came, and the of course the police, but Antonia hardly took any notice. She rode along with her sister in the ambulance, feeling her body and mind growing numb, holding Anni's hand. At the hospital, Mama met them, and peppered her and the doctors and police with questions, but she could only give the barest, short answers. She knew it was frustrating them, but she could hardly do any more, she was so tired.

Some lady detective took her aside and started to grill her about what had happened, why the house had nearly shaken itself apart when there was no registered earthquake, and where were the owners, what were they doing there, and so on. Antonia didn't recall what explanation she had given, but somewhere along the line Antonia had mentioned the residents…she wasn't sure how much she told of what really happened, she clearly couldn't tell her what had really gone on…but something must have come out, since the police woman started grilling her harder: How many of them were there, what did they do, what did they look like, where did they go, and such blah blah blah, but Antonia had finally given up making any coherent sentences. It was all a waste of time. The lady detective then tried threatening her with arrest and ICE and Homeland Security and all other kinds of nonsense, but Antonia kept ignoring her, and finally the lady stomped off in a huff. She didn't care.

Finally the doctors came back to where she and Mama were sitting in the waiting room. Yes, Annalia was in a coma, but still alive, still had brain activity, but they were puzzled, they could not determine the cause of her coma. They needed to run more tests, hospitalizations…

It was all more or less what Antonia had expected. Sapphire and Steel had said as much. There was nothing else they could do for the moment and finally they went home.

Months passed, relatively uneventfully. Mama still worked and worried. Anni stayed in a nice hospice: some grant had appeared from some charity somewhere that would pay for her life support, care, everything. Antonia didn't consider that source of funds, it had nothing to do with her; she stayed at home, watching endless TV, endlessly surfing the Internet, the days blurring together. Mama was worried about her and got her to go live with some relations in Mexico, to get a change. She didn't argue.

It was a very hot, summer day nearly a year after the events in the mansion. Antonia decided to go out for a walk, after a call from Mama. Anni's eyes had opened, and she was awake, but the doctors had said she would probably be at the level of a two-year-old. They guessed possibly some rare virus. Mama tried to sound optimistic, but Antonia felt guilt that she couldn't reveal the true reason. She needed a walk to clear her head. She didn't have any particular place in mind, just decided to get out of the little house she shared with her Spanish-only speaking relations, whom she barely talked to, even though they were friendly, but they also kept trying to get her to talk. She suspected that Mama was giving instructions to them. She wandered aimlessly for a bit, not really paying attention to where she was going, until she heard some bits of English. British English, similar to how Sapphire and Steel and Silver sounded. It snapped her out of her lethargy, and she looked around quickly, for a moment thinking it was them. Of course, it wasn't them. It was a group of foreign tourists, elderly, retired, paunchy, who were following their tour guide into the museum.

Antonia followed them in. She wasn't one for museum-going but something seemed to draw her in, and she followed the group as they looked at old bits of pottery, dioramas of the ancient Aztecs, bits and pieces the conquistadors had not stolen or smashed or burnt. Their chatty tour guide led them to a particular statue, a faceless, shapeless image, and began talking about Aztec mythology.

"This is a representation of Xipe Totec, who was worshipped throughout Mesoamerica. His name means roughly "Our Lord the Flayed One." He is represented as a person wearing a robe of flayed human skin, which his priests also wore. He was worshipped at the Spring Equinox, and represented new beginnings," the guide clearly was warming to his subject. "Some scholars believe that this worship spread as far as the American Southwest, and that the Hopi Indians worshipped him as Maasaw, a god of war and a trickster deity."

Antonia stared entranced at the statue of Xipe Totec, the Flayed God, or Maasaw.

_Antonia_, a voice whispered in her ear. It was not the voice of the tour guide still chattering away or the distracted conversations of the English tourists. _Antonia._

_Where are you?_

_I'm still here. The Fifth World has not come yet, but it will soon. Are you interested?_

_Not really._

_Your sister was. She tried to protect me._

Antonia clenched her fists. _She was crazy! She made a crazy choice!_

_It was still her choice. What is yours? Soon every human will have to choose._

_Go away, I'm not dealing with this now._

_Very well. You will know where to find me._

_In a cardboard box underneath the bridge? _Antonia's thought was bitter.

The voice disappeared, and Antonia was just alone with a bunch of tired tourists.

"Excuse me love, where's the loo?"

Antonia sighed and shrugged and pointed in a random direction. Yes, they would all choose eventually, she supposed. Maasaw was right - she had seen Anni's face as she had thrown herself in front of the unearthly chid's attack, and her face was once of defiance. She had wanted to do it, and that was another thing she couldn't explain. The Elementals though, did they have a choice? Maybe they did. The Transient Beings - Mr. Zamorra - had chosen. She wasn't sure, though, what kind of choice it was. She was sure of only one thing...that she was not going to let anyone make it for her. If, or when, she saw any of them again, she would make that clear.

End.

**thanks for reading first S&S story! all references to real or imagined persons are strictly fictional! i have at least 2 more ideas for further stories in the "Insurgency" arc...one set in Scotland and one set in the Mojave Desert.**

**Maasaw is an actual deity from Hopi Indian mythology, and may have some distant relations to Mesoamerica - all speculation, and I should point out he is not necessarily considered antagonistic to the Hopis! thus disclaimer.**


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